The Change
by LunarLacrimosa
Summary: Miles Lancaster, the ex-bestie of Sam? After finding a damaged Barricade everything changes for the young teen. Barricade learns what it means to really be alive from a fleshy of all things, gaining these horrible things called feelings. A Sparkling, Cons joining the Bots, and more. hinted mech/human, then mech/human near the end. Basically finished, sequel planned. Will be edited.
1. The change

HELLO EVERYBODY!

For those of you new to this story: please immediately leave this to go to my page and instead look up TC: Remix! I am revising this story-that means better writing overall, new scenes, different dialogue, better plot and less holes, etc!

For any old followers: please go give the remix a try. However I really want to give my sincere thanks for sticking with me through the Change. Please ignore Acceptance as I was falling into a bad place in my writing stage and haven't updated as frequently since I ended the change. I am going back and fixing it because I want to for myself, but also for you guys and the Transformers community that may still yet give my stuff a look see and have a laugh. That's what I aim for.

(the original ch. 1 of TC is under this cut)

**Chapter 1: The change**

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Going through and editing all the chapters, there's a lot of mistakes I never bothered fixing. If it doesn't say edited/updated you might find a lot, sorry! Going to do all of them eventually. Later on most chapters average 2,000 words. 8/24/2012

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><p>Barricade pulled into a small covered area, stopping his engine and letting his own systems start to repair themselves.<p>

After being beaten by the Autobot Bumblebee he hadn't made it to Mission City in time to fight for the Allspark. It was later, after a month of silence that he heard from Starscream. Megatron was dead. He already knew that, by the way he was never sent for. He might have failed, but he had been loyal, and loyalty like his was repaid if failures weren't made often. And Barricade made sure that they weren't.

His temporary partner, Frenzy, was also dead. Another thing he didn't need Starscream to tell him about. Barricade would never have called them _close_ but he did get a small amount of amusement from the little glitch. Frenzy was hyperactive, insane, and usually difficult to understand even when he did speak only one language at one time. It didn't surprise Barricade at all when he found out, and he would eventually, though not from Starscream, about him being killed by some fleshlings.

Starscream had found him, and the 'con wished he had just been left alone. He had never liked Seekers, their view of being better than the 'groundlings' annoying to him. Starscream had been one of the worst, though if a mech had a quality that deserved respect, then the Seeker would respect it, at least.

Besides that he and the SIC of the Decepticon army had just never seemed to get along. So naturally when Starscream had arrived and started to order him around in the same second, Barricade had grown angry, and spat out that he'd rather turn into an Autodolt then be under Starscream's command.

That hadn't gone over well with the temperamental seeker.

And he couldn't even work on himself. He was a warrior, not a medic. He knew the basics, certainly. Most anyone with a sane processor that was in the Decepticon army did. However, it was hard to work on yourself. Most of the time pain receptors couldn't be turned off unless the medic was highly skilled and more than capable in his work, and Barricade was neither highly skilled nor capable with working on himself. So Barricade trying to patch up a coolant line would be the equivalent of a human going in to sew up a torn vein, without any pain medication or the like, and failing meant you could hurt yourself worse, die, or it would just have to stay that way until someone more capable came along.

With nothing else to do he had drifted into stasis, a Cybertronian's version of a coma, often times medically induced by their own bodies if badly hurt, where his self-repair systems could work on some of the major and minor stuff.

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><p>If there was one thing Miles Lancaster new it was that his best friend, Sam Witwicky, had started acting odd ever since he bought that old beaten up Camaro. After Sam had ditched him at the lake for Mikaela he had seen very little of his friend, if they even were still friends. He knew he had been a little harsh towards Mikaela that day, but he worried for Sam, and didn't want him hurt. And the way Sam was acting wasn't angry, anyway.<p>

Miles couldn't say he actually hated Mikaela, even though he acted that way. He felt bad for his friend, who had liked Mikaela since first grade. From his, and practically everyone else's, observations, Mikaela would never even look at Sam as dating material. So he had insulted and made fun of, hoping to drive his friend into finally getting over his misplaced crush. He was as shocked as everyone else that Mikaela was actually dating Sam, and couldn't help but think it wouldn't last long. He hoped it wouldn't, and that it wasn't just some cruel bet or something like that.

Both Mikaela and Sam had disappeared for a few days, and when they came back Sam had a brand new Camaro and he and Mikaela were dating. It was fall by now and school had started back up. Despite trying to hang out with Sam he was always busy with something or another, and even in school Mikaela and Sam tended to stick together and whisper to each other. Miles knew they were hiding something, and it had all started with that car.

He was upset his friend wouldn't tell him despite how long the two had been friends, and in his most recent attempt to reconnect with Sam he had walked all the way to Sam's house just to be turned away because he was washing the Camaro and had a date with Mikaela later.

This left Miles with nothing to do but walk, and he did. Angry at himself, angry at Sam, angry at Mikaela, and angry at that car. He walked to let off steam, not wanting to go home and relieve his stress on simulated characters in a video game. He needed to think about a lot of things, like how much longer he could try to keep up the now seemingly one sided friendship.

Sam wasn't his only friend in school, but the teen was his closest. They had been best friends since they were little, and had gone through a lot together. They even called each other bro's, and joked about having a bromance. Their families were tight friends too, and during family reunions the boys would go to one another's and meet up with their 'extended family'. That's just how tight they were. All that had changed, and Miles couldn't figure out why. What had happened? Something big, that was for sure.

Kicking a can hard just for being in his way, he jumped when the sound of it connecting with another metal object read his ears. The can had flown through some bushes, and Miles shoved through them, curiosity dictating he check it out. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but what he found was certainly not it.

A Saleen police cruiser sat surrounded by brush and trees as if hiding, the car itself banged up and filthy. Circling it, Miles found the words "To punish and enslave" on it instead of the usual police car slogan. Confused, he looked inside the windows finding it was unlocked, and looked to be abandoned if the layer of dust on it was any indication.

Taking a step back he looked at the car thoughtfully. It certainly looked like it hadn't been used in years, and he searched around inside. There was nothing indicating that anyone owned it. He stepped back and looked over the entire vehicle once more. With a bit of elbow grease, some amazing googling, and some tools, maybe he could get the car into a presentable state.

To top it all off, if he really needed help, he knew Mikaela's dad owned a car repair shop. If nothing else he could at least try to get closer to Mikaela that way. Maybe he would finally find out what was going on with her and Sam. Working on the car would give him something to do, a way to get closer to Sam again, and maybe he could earn some money by selling it, though he'd check if the local police needed it first.


	2. The process of learning

**AN: **Thanks for continuing to read the story if this is your first time! X) Edited 8/24/12

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><p>That Monday Miles had printed out all the papers he had thought would be useful. Things on how to hotwire a car, change tires, check the different systems, and some information about what should be going on under the hood. After school he filled up a container with gas, put it, a tool kit, and the papers in his back pack, and then biked back to where he had found the police cruiser, silently thanking God for google.<p>

He put the gas in the car, and then tried to hot wire it. Tried being the key word. An hour later he was thoroughly pissed off even with the directions on the printed papers, and he was about to give up when the car suddenly sprang to life.

"Finally!" he cried happily, pumping a fist in the air and finding the button to pop the hood.

Miles didn't pause to give how the car started up a second thought, he figured that he just finally managed to hot wire it. Why would he think any differently? Looking under the hood he whistled at what he saw. He was no car buff, but even he could tell that was a pretty nice engine. Grabbing the tool kit, he bent down to take a closer look, letting his hands roam over the engine. When the engine gave a sudden roar he jerked in surprise, narrowly avoiding slamming his head off the hood as he gave the engine a wide eyed look, only relaxing when it sputtered and stopped.

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><p>Barricade was less than pleased to feel organic hands on his engine, and let it startle the stupid human before letting it stop. As unhappy as he was to feel those disgusting hands messing around with delicate parts, the young organic did seem to know at least some of what he was doing.<p>

He had just come out of stasis lock, and knew that staying low was his best option. He wanted to live, and as pleasing as the thought of squishing the inferior insect in front of him was, the last thing he wanted was the Autobots on his case. He scanned the fleshy, and searching his memory files, found him to be extremely similar to LadiesMan217, or Sam Witwicky. They appeared to be about the same age, and since he wasn't far from Tranquility, he assumed they probably went to the same school.

He decided that letting the fleshy live was the best option, for now. The thing seemed intent on fixing him for some reason, and Barricade would allow it that privilege. It would be quicker and easier than letting his systems do all the work. He scanned the surrounding area, searching through the internet for any possible information he might find useful while letting the insect work. He didn't have any pending alerts on his comm link, meaning no mech was attempting to communicate with him.

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><p>And it went like that for the next few days, Miles not telling anyone where he was going or what he was doing. He set out earlier on Saturday morning, making several trips. He had decided to start working on the outside of the car to get all the filth off, only able to do so much to repair the rest of it. He had no idea that the vehicle he was working on was alive, much less that it could feel everything he was doing to it. Because of that he decided to just fill the buckets up at the stream, the water already cold.<p>

Cybertronians could survive the deep cold of space easily. They could even survive some high temperatures, depending on how high, of course. This did not mean, however, that they did not know the difference between hot and cold. They did, and they preferred, just like anything normal, to be in the middle. If one was in a mild climate and was suddenly attacked by cold they wouldn't like it, just like a human.

Barricade was in recharge when it happened. When Miles splashed the hood and windshield with that cold water, Barricade sprang out of recharge in shock. He forgot all about lying low and about letting the insect live. Even a Cybertronian's mind could be sluggish when coming out of sleep.

"WHAT THE FRAG IS WRONG WITH YOU?" he roared, starting his engine quickly and rolling across the few feet separating him and the fleshy, aiming to knock him to the ground.

Needless to say Miles was shocked, and stumbled back as Barricade drew closer. He stuttered out an apology, before even realizing he was even doing so, an automatic reflex. So was falling on his ass and letting his jaw drop when he realized that the car was not only moving on its own, but talking as well.

There was silence, nothing but the birds twittering happily and the sound of the leaves as they swayed in the breeze. Miles continued to stare, getting the odd feeling that this was a very big moment in his life, and he wanted it to go well. If it didn't, well... that wasn't too hard to guess.

"You'll catch flies like that, fleshy." Barricade all but growled, and if cars could glare, he would have been doing so.

Miles closed his mouth with an audible click as his teeth smacked together. Two minutes ago and the teen would have never pictured a talking car outside of the television or a book, and now it was real? His mind was racing with what he should say, should ask, and should do. Should he tell someone, or was the car wanting it's apparent life to be a secret? What did one say to a living car, anyway? Especially one that seemed to be unhappy with you? After another moment, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Barricade.

"Now you look here, I'm not going to put up with any of this 'Ohhh, I'm a talking car! Let's scare poor Miles out of his wits!' nonsense! It's just cold water, you oversized baby." Miles scolded, intent on making sure the car knew he wasn't scared nor would he be bossed around, only to bite his lip because somehow the car looked shocked. He'd never thought cars could look _anything_ before.

"You find out I can talk, and you must realize I could easily run you over, and _you_ tell me off?" Barricade asked in disbelief. This fleshy was completely insane.

"Probably not the best thing to say, I admit." Miles allowed, bending over to retrieve the now empty bucket, along with the soap and sponges. "But either way if you were going to run me over you wouldn't wait until now to do it. Besides, you owe me."

"I..." Barricade trailed off, trying to see how Miles had possibly come to that conclusion, before laughing at the seeming audacity of that statement. "I owe you?"

"Yes, you owe me. I've spent close to a week fixing you up as best as I could, and today I planned to wash all that dirt off you." Miles replied, "I'm Miles Lancaster, and I'm not afraid of a dirty police car that looks like it's seen better days. Especially not one that gets cranky over a bit of cold water."

"You will address me as Barricade, fleshling." Barricade growled, "And if I didn't find you so useful you'd be dead. Watch your insolent tone."

Miles snorted and grinned, giving Barricade a mock salute. He realized how stupid it was to say those things to a car that could think, and seemed pretty pissed off at him, but what did he have to lose? The car, apparently called Barricade, hadn't done anything to him yet, so he felt relatively safe. The thought of fleeing was tossed aside by the amazement and how excited he felt. A talking vehicle? That was pretty darn cool, if you asked him.

Wisely he kept his mouth shut, allowing Barricade to cool off before bothering to ask any questions. Despite how eager he was, he spent his time cleaning the police cruiser off. It took a while, but after a few hours he got most of the dirt and grime off. He took a moment to circle Barricade, noting any scratches and dents he should attempt to tackle later. Smiling to himself, he sat a few feet away from the Decepticon and grabbed his lunch out of his back pack.

"Sho," Miles started with food in his mouth, using his hand as a napkin. Etiquette wasn't exactly on his mind. "Wha' exactly are you?"

"First off, fleshling, you are disgusting. And why exactly should I tell you anything?" Barricade asked, annoyed at how ill-mannered the fleshy was.

Miles managed to swallow before answering him, "Well, no one's come to find you and you haven't left this area. Seems like I'm all you got for company."

"Lucky me," Barricade drawled sarcastically.

"Look, I know nothing about you. I started fixing you up because I planned to sell you, since getting a job would be too time consuming, and you were going to be my ticket to solving the mystery, except I got too involved in the challenge and wanted to do it myself..." A pause, and then he grinned. He was getting off track. "But I guess that idea just flew out the window. I doubt you'd like to be sold. I helped fix you up, and while I do appreciate you not killing me and all, you could still at least tell me what you are, how you got here, and what happened to you. You have nothing to lose by doing it, but if you tell me more about yourself maybe I could help you out more."

"Fine." Barricade said simply, seeing the point Miles made. He had nothing to lose by telling the fleshy, if anything he could gain a bit and have Miles fix him up further if he explained things.

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><p>By the time Barricade got done telling him the shortened version the sun was getting ready to set. He explained about Cybertron, and the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. How he ended up on Earth, and what he had done on the planet. Told of having Frenzy but losing the tiny Decepticon, and then later having Starscream fight him. He didn't lie about what he did to try to get Archibald Witwicky's glasses off of Ladiesman217, he didn't see the point even if it did scare Miles away. Miles waited until he was done to ask any questions, and they spent another half hour answering those.<p>

"I know Sam; we've been friends for forever. Well, we were friends, I'm not sure anymore. But this does explain a lot, especially about his car… Oh, and don't worry. I'm not going to tell him or that Bumblebee about you. I've spent precious time on fixing you up; the last thing I want is for the Autobot to damage you." Miles said, tone light as he gathered the buckets and sponges he used to clean Barricade off.

It looked like Barricade needed protecting, even though Miles would never dare call it that to his face, and the mech didn't seem _too_ bad. The whole thing about Cybertronians having no true gender but taking the pronouns on anyway confused Miles to no end, but if Barricade wanted called a he instead of an it than he would be called that. He hadn't seriously hurt Sam, just bruised him up a little and scared the piss out of him. Miles had done worse to his friend in all their years together.

"You seem even more stupid then the average fleshling. To LadiesMan217 I am the bad guy, and I even threatened him." Barricade replied, moving back a few feet so he was in his original spot.

"You threatened him, never hurt him. Scared him, but you scared me too, at first. Sam may be my friend, but he's been a piss poor one lately, and I don't owe him anything. You don't seem the type to attack him just for revenge over Megatron's death, especially since you know he has that Autobot watching over him. If I thought you were a threat I'd attempt to do something about it, but I don't think you are." He explained, standing up straight again to look at Barricade.

"I take that 'seem' back, you are even more stupid then the average fleshling." Barricade growled, scanning the fleshling once more. Nothing unusual about him, but he was reacting a lot differently than he had expected one of his kind to. Especially someone he could kill so easily. Barricade continued once he was satisfied with the scan, taking on a tone that not many would argue with even among the Decepticons. "You will come back tomorrow and I will show you my bipedal form. You can get to even more that way. And that is an order, fleshling. I expect you here by seven in the morning."

Miles just laughed, "Yeah, yeah. Goodnight, Barry!"

The teen was already out of Barricade's line of sight when the 'con registered what he'd been called, but Miles could still hear the angry rev of an engine, and he grinned to himself.


	3. Office Barry Cade, Officer Barry Ticon

**AN: **Thanks for continuing to read this story and any reviews! X) Edited 8/24/12

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><p>Barricade was irritated. He was surprised by the gall the fleshy dared to show after he found out that the Cybertronian was alive, and then the next day when he didn't appear at the time Barricade had ordered him to. He could easily kill the impudent fleshy, and he was positive that the annoying creature knew that. So the fact that the fleshy acted that way threw the Decepticon's processor for a loop.<p>

He sat there in silence up until noon, waiting as patiently as he could for the fleshy, before grinning internally and deciding that the insect deserved to be scared a bit for making him wait. He changed into his bipedal form, setting himself down to wait. He didn't have to wait long until he could hear the fleshy making it's way to where he had found the Cybertonian. Using his advanced systems he estimated just where the tiny little creature would come through the shrubbery, and lent his face to right about there.

"You're late!" he boomed, just as the fleshy came through and stopped in shock at seeing him. That shock didn't last long at all.

"That is so cool! You're huge! Eyes, oops I mean optics, are red, very nice touch. Makes you look even more badass. Not that you needed it, but I think the Autobot blue would definitely take your badass-ness done half a notch. Face is very pointy. Ouch looking." Miles rambled, grinning up at the shocked Decepticon. The teen rocked back and forth on his heels a bit, head tilted to get a better look.

Barricade sat back just to examine the fleshy, watching as Miles swung his back pack on to the ground and stepped closer to the Decepticon. He didn't feel as surprised as he should by the fleshy's reaction, finding that the fleshy acting surprising wasn't surprising at all. If he had acted the way Barricade had expected him to then he probably would have been more surprised. Then again, if he had acted anything like Barricade had ever expected to, he wouldn't even be here again today.

_Great_, he mused, _Starscream must have somehow glitched my processor. There's no way I'm just that used to the disgusting fleshy._

Miles cracked his fingers, standing near one of Barricade's feet. He took a moment to look the Decepticon over with curious eyes, circling around him to examine his back. He guessed that if Barricade bothered to stand up he'd be about 17 feet tall, but how wide he'd be Miles had no idea. From the looks of it he didn't think a Cybertronian could be fat, but he certainly wasn't going to ask or even bring the matter of weight up. He didn't want to become a pancake just to find out that Cybertonian mechs didn't like talks about their weight. He noted how the finger like appendages ended in claws, and didn't spend much time thinking what Barricade could have used them for.

"So, whatcha want me to do, Barry? I don't have long, gotta get home and do my homework." Miles came to a stop in front of the mech, craning his neck to look up at him.

Barricade glared down at the fleshy, "My name is Barricade, fleshling."

"And my name is_ Miles_," Miles replied easily, not fazed by the glare in the least. "Not fleshling, fleshy, human, insect, squishy, soon-to-be-pancake, or whatever else you might call me."

"Fine, human designated as Miles, you will be able to get at even more under my armor this way. Tomorrow, perhaps, you can help me with some dents." Barricade made it sound like it was something Miles should be honored to do.

Miles let out an exasperated sigh, happy that his name was at least somewhere in there. When a large and clawed hand suddenly wrapped around him he let out a very manly squeak, if you asked him. If you asked Barricade that'd be a whole other matter, of course.

Barricade drew Miles up close to his face, letting his air vents blow air on him. Miles, examining his facial structure curiously, tentatively reached out and touched one of the Decepticon's face plates. When Barricade didn't pull him away he allowed his hands to explore a bit, enjoying the feel of the smooth alien metal even when he did run across one of the sharp edges.

"Hmm, I'm not as disgusted as I thought I would be. I find your touch tolerable." Barricade sounded somewhat surprised, while Miles just let out a snort.

"Way to kill the mood man. I'd 'preciate it if you stopped man handling me and put me down." Miles complained, squirming in Barricade's grip.

Making a small grunt of confirmation, Barricade laid down on his back, setting Miles on his chest plates. Once the teenager steadied himself, the Decepticon instructed him on a few things to do, getting Miles to give him the Cybertronian equivalent of a massage on tense or overworked muscles.

He let the tiny creature work as he ran diagnostic scans on himself, searching for anything else that might need attended to quickly. He was surprised to find all of his Guardian protocols turned on. That at least helped to explain why he wasn't as disgusted by the fleshy as he would have been previously, and why he was so used to the tiny creature's presence. Next he ran a scan of the area, making sure no stupid Autobots were out and about anywhere near to him. It wouldn't stop him from making a pancake out of the teen if he got too annoying, though.

He might be getting used to the fleshy and find him tolerable, but that didn't mean he wouldn't get a kick out of scaring the tiny creature. His first attempt had been foiled, and he hardly counted startling the fleshy when he grabbed him. He had yet to tell the fleshy of their holoforms, and quietly activated his to appear behind Miles.

Barricade's holoform was male, and tall, towering over Miles by about a foot. He already had a set image, but the organic mech with a mustache was one all Decepticon's were supposed to take if needing one, and he didn't much feel like using that one anymore. He went mustache less, checking out a new face on the internet and manipulating the nanites just how he wanted them. He kept it simple, red eyes and short black hair in a police uniform to match his alt mode. Smirking to himself, he reached out and grabbed Miles' arm, laughing when the teen jumped and nearly lost his balance, the only thing keeping him in place being Barricade's grip on his arm.

"And here I was hoping for another one of your oh so manly squeaks," Barricade taunted, a smirk on the holoform's face.

"Dude! Fuck you." Miles huffed, glaring at Barricade, before the teen adopted a thoughtful look. "You have way too much time on your hands if you get entertained by playing scare the human. You should try out some movies or TV shows on the net. I do have school, and some days I might not be here at all to entertain you, because I also have a life and a family."

Barricade gave that some thought, and deciding that Miles might be right, growled. "You're lucky you're at least a little right, flesh-Miles. I still need to lay low for about a week or so, make sure the auto-idiots think I'm disposed of before I make a brake for it. As much as I hate to see what you pathetic things come up with, I can't exactly do anything to entertain myself without drawing attention…"

Miles felt proud of himself, having succeeded in hopefully curbing any further attempts of scaring him. The Decepticon's holoform dissolved, which Miles found more than a little creepy, but at least it gave him back his arm. By now the teen was beginning to think Barricade always talked with a growl. Miles went back to work on the 'con, suggesting one of the stupidest movies he could possibly think of to Barricade.

A few hours later, Barricade had already accused Miles of sending him to the stupidest, most likely to kill brain cells, thing he could think of. He asked what movies and shows Miles really liked, and doing a quick search about their contents, was satisfied about his answer, resolving to give some of them a try later.

Miles gingerly climbed off of Barricade, going and picking up his backpack. He paused in thought, and turned to the Decepticon with a questioning look.

"If I can't come for some reason, how am I supposed to tell you?" he asked, slinging his backpack onto one shoulder.

"Give me your phone." Barricade said, letting his holoform reappear and holding out a hand to receive the device.

Hesitating for only a moment, Miles took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to him. He watched as Barricade used the holoform to mess with his phone. He assumed he was just adding his contact information, but then back tracked to wonder how the Decepticon could even have something for Miles to contact him by.

He shook his head to clear it of the thought, deciding it best to not think of and just accept it. He took his phone back and scrolled through the contacts, finally finding one that he was certain was Barricade. After all, _Officer Barry Cade_ was kind of a dead giveaway. He changed the contact to _Officer Barry Ticon_, that way if for whatever reason Sam, Mikaela, or one of the Autobots got a hold of his phone they wouldn't be able to guess so easily who the contact was. At least that was what he hoped.

"Alright, goodbye then, Barry!" Miles smirked up at the 'con before beating a hasty retreat behind some bushes. He laughed when he heard Barricade growl in frustration, following the trail back to the road that would eventually lead him to his house.


	4. Take away my anxiety

**AN: **A slightly longer chapter, song is Anxiety by Black Eyed Peas. Hope you enjoy! Edited 8/24/12

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><p>The next few days Barricade spent alone, watching movies and TV shows. He found he actually enjoyed some of them, despite his original hate of Earth and its inhabitants. For the first two days Miles had texted him a simple "Good morning, Barry", and after school had ended whether or not he would be able to join the Decepticon. He would also send him a "Good night, Barry" before going to bed.<p>

By Wednesday Barricade surprised him by texting him in the middle of school, causing his phone to go off loudly and get him detention that night. Once he had gotten home he had angrily texted Barricade and told him off as well as telling him appropriate times to text him if he wanted to text. The next day Miles turned his phone on silent, and just smirked when he checked his phone at lunch to see that the Decepticon had texted him again. He quickly texted the 'con with a smug reply, before putting his phone back into his pocket and acting like the good little student he was.

He brought his phone out again later on while waiting for his annoyingly late bus, texting the Decepticon to complain as well as just to talk. Slightly amused, as outside of the good morning's, goodnight's, and whether or not he could join the 'con Miles had avoided talking to him a lot through the phone, Barricade texted the young fleshling back, occasionally poking fun at his slow typing skills. When Miles abruptly stopped texting he was annoyed at the teenager. When Miles didn't text him his normal "Good night, Barry" and then night turned to morning with no "Good morning, Barry", he couldn't help but wonder what was up.

He wasn't worried about the young teen, Primus forbid. He was merely curious as to what would cause the fleshling to change his normal routine so suddenly, or so he told himself. He was used to working alone and being alone, following Megatron's orders as a mere pawn on his chest board. He'd once been a Commander of his own team, one even before the Decepticons, called the Race Track Patrol team, but that had been long ago on Cybertron and Megatron had made sure to separate them. He was reluctant to admit that he had enjoyed Frenzy's brief company, even if they weren't that close. There was no way he was going to admit to enjoying being around a fleshling, or having any feelings remotely close to friendship towards the fleshy. If he was going to admit to anything that led to having feelings to Miles, it would be that the fleshy was like an entertaining pet he kept around, always returning to it's master without him having to call. Naturally he would wonder what was keeping his pet from him, he told himself.

Aggravated, Barricade wanted nothing more than to drive free of the little forest shelter he had surrounded himself in and find the fleshy and yell at him. He only managed to calm himself by thinking that Miles should be in school at this hour of the morning, and that more likely than not the bumbling Autobot that stuck to LadiesMan217 was there as well. When Miles appeared not even an hour later with a black and badly swollen eye he was surprised, and irritated.

"What did you do to yourself, fleshy?" Barricade questioned with a growl, driving the few feet closer to Miles.

Miles just grinned, "Oh, this? Tripped and fell on to a door knob, most embar-"

"Do not attempt to lie to me, fleshling!" Barricade snarled, effectively cutting Miles off as he transformed to glare down at the teen.

Miles sighed, running a hand through his hair, "No lies? Okay, the resident school cool guy asshole, Trent, was sitting near me at bus dismissal. He never liked me or Sam, and liked Sam even less when Sam "stole" Mikaela from him. So he sat there bad mouthing the both of them and I eventually got angry and yelled at him. He gave me a black eye and broke my phone. Mom let me stay home today since not only is one of my eyes still pretty much swollen shut, but also because we're taking a trip to visit relatives in the state over this weekend. So I snuck out while she was at work and came to see you, not having a phone to text you with anymore. I kind of dread seeing Trent on Monday, but at least Sam won't be there. Oh, and after Tuesday we have the rest of the week off. Cool, right?"

Barricade barely listened after Miles said Sam wouldn't be there that Monday. That meant the Autobot wouldn't be there, and he grinned inwardly as he formulated a plan against Trent. He ignored Miles' rambling as the teen continued to ramble on, tuning him out as he hacked in to police records and the like to put his plan in motion. He wasn't surprised by the small surge of protectiveness he felt towards the young teen, convincing himself it was nothing other than not wanting anyone else to play with his pet.

* * *

><p>By the time Monday morning rolled around Miles was reluctant to get out of bed, having the feeling that something was going to happen today. He couldn't tell if it was good or bad, but after almost missing his bus he was starting to dread that it was something bad. When lunch came around and nothing else had happened he stopped worrying, never seeing a familiar police cruiser pull into the parking lot. When the bell rang to go home he took his time, not wanting to run into Trent or one of his lackeys with his eye still sore.<p>

When he went outside he was met by a crowd of loud students. Some were laughing and pointing at something Miles couldn't see, and others were whispering amongst themselves. Miles shoved his way through, stopping as he saw Trent's precious blue truck being towed away, and two police cars. Trent was yelling at one of the police men, trying to explain that he didn't know how he had gotten all those tickets and other misdeeds that they were accusing him of.

Miles grinned, thinking that Trent deserved whatever had happened. The grin quickly faded as one of the police cars pulled up in front of him and popped open the passenger side door. Eyes narrowed, he watched as the person inside beckoned him to enter. He could easily recognize Barricade's holoform, though the eye color had changed to brown. He could also recognize the cruiser as Barricade's alt form, though the Decepticon had changed the slogan to "To punish and bring justice", thankfully. Miles could hear the large group of students go mostly silent, just knowing a good deal were already looking at him, quickly hurrying into the passenger side and slamming the door.

"What did you do?" he hissed, taking off his backpack and putting it on the floor between his legs.

"You should really buckle up, it's the law." The holoform chuckled, though the voice seemed to come from all around Miles despite the way the holoform's mouth moved.

Miles glared at the dashboard, buckling up. He turned his gaze to the holoform, "Well?"

"I simply decided to punish the human designated as Trent. From what you told me he deserves it." Barricade replied, amusement evident in his voice.

"I wondered why you seemed to ask so many questions about what Trent had done. I don't even want to know how you did it. More important than that though, what if you had been caught?" Miles huffed, sinking into the passenger seat.

"You told me that Sam would not be there on Monday and that naturally led me to assume that the stupid Autobot wouldn't be sitting in the school parking lot due to that. Though, I do wonder how you knew he wouldn't be here today. I thought you two didn't talk that much anymore?" Barricade wasn't even bothering to open his holoform's mouth now, so Miles assumed the voice was coming from the radio.

"His mom called my mom and asked if I could bring any homework he might get for Monday early Friday morning…" Miles trailed off, gripping the edge of the seat as Barricade pulled a sharp u-turn. His stomach dropped as he realized they were taking the way to Sam's house. "I-I can just deliver the homework on my own time, Barricade! There's no need for you to take me there! What if they're already back?"

Barricade just smirked, "Come, fleshling, what's the fun of not taking a few risks? I scanned the area, it doesn't seem like the Autobot is there."

Miles cursed inwardly, taking a shaky breath to calm his suddenly jittery nerves. He liked the 'con and was more than willing to admit that, but the thought of Sam realizing he had befriended what he would see as an enemy made him nervous. He didn't even know if they could count as friends anymore with the way his fellow teenager had been acting, but he still felt as if he had crossed the line of loyalty. They had been friends since elementary school, and while they did have other friends they were closest to each other, or had been until late last school year. In a weird twist of fate he almost felt closer to Barricade now.

They pulled up to the Witwicky household all too soon for Miles liking, and he slowly dug Sam's homework out of his backpack, getting out of the police cruiser and making his way to the front door. He raised his hand to knock on the door, hesitating as he stole a glance back at Barricade. His holoform was sitting smugly in the front seat, a lazy smirk in place as he left one hand on the steering wheel. Miles had no problem thinking he was a smug bastard that needed a scare in the form of a certain yellow Autobot coming back, but the teen doubted if he could take that himself. He took a deep breath, knocking on the door. He was more than a little relieved when Judy Witwicky opened it.

"Oh, Miles! Thanks a lot for getting here with Sam's homework, he's not back just yet, but I'll make sure to tell him to thank you… Oh, who's that?" Judy smiled, waving at Barricade's holoform, before taking the homework from Miles.

_If only you knew_, he thought. He put on a smile, "Oh, that's a friend of the family. He was nice enough to pick me up from school today."

"Oh? That's nice. What happened to his police car? It looks kind of damaged…" She leaned out the door a bit as she scrutinized the cruiser. "To punish and bring justice? Haven't seen that before."

"Just some punks hassling the local law enforcement. And that's… his personal touch, as a joke. Seeing how long before they make him change it." Miles explained hastily, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go now. He's gotta get back, and I gotta go home."

"Of course, have a nice day, Miles." Judy smiled gently, shutting the door.

Miles practically ran back to the saleen police cruiser, opening the passenger door and closing it just as quickly, hearing Barricade laugh as he buckled up. He glared at the radio as Anxiety by Black Eyed Peas drifted into his ears.

_"I don't fear none of my enemies, and I don't fear bullets from Uzi's.  
>I've been dealing with something that's worse than these,<br>that'll make you fall to your knees and that's the, the  
>anxiety the sane and the insane 's brought me to my knees.<br>Lord, please, please, take away my anxiety."_

Miles glared at the radio, but after a moment he let a smirk fall on to his face, "Taking a page out of Bumblebee's book? That's cute."

The radio abruptly cut off the music as Barricade snarled in reply. Miles dared a glance over, regretting what he said as his eyes came into contact with furious red ones. He tried not to gulp out of reflex, already realizing the 'con had major anger issues as he absentmindedly wondered when Barricade had changed his holoform's eye color or if he had even noticed it happening. He glanced forward again quickly, and then to his right and out the window.

"…Where are we going?" Miles asked hesitantly.

"For a drive. I've been in the same place for how long now? I think I can enjoy some time out. Or do you have a problem with that?" Barricade growled, a warning there in his voice even if it was obvious he was practically daring Miles to say something, anything, holoform glaring at the teen again until Miles shook his head no.

Miles sighed, leaning back in the passenger seat. It felt surprisingly different from when he had first sat in it, as if it was changing to better adjust to his comfort level. With a start, he realized that it just might be. He tried not to grin to himself as he thought Barricade might actually care.

* * *

><p>The next day Trent was nowhere to be seen in the school, and Miles tried not to act as happy as he really felt about that. Just after lunch he stopped somewhere in a secluded hall and pulled out his phone to text Barricade and thank him. He jumped when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, shoving the phone away quickly and praying he hadn't gotten caught by a teacher. He turned around, surprised to see who was behind him.<p>

"Geez man, way to give me a heart attack! I thought you were a teacher!" Miles scowled, Sam just grinning sheepishly at him in return. "What's up?"

"Wanna ride home with me today? Micky ain't here, and we could hang out my house. Go to the lookout beforehand and make fun of all the stupid couples, just like old times." Sam grinned, and then looked nervous while Miles just stared at him in shock. "Hey man, there's no need to look so shocked!"

Miles attempted to snap out of it, laughing awkwardly. "Yeah? Okay. So I'll… uh, see you then, I guess?"

Sam nodded, and they parted ways. Miles was surprised to find he felt more nervous than happy. He knew Sam's car was alive, just like Barricade was. He only started to panick as it got closer to the end of the day, and closer to when he'd go see Sam. How was he supposed to act? Should he treat Bumblebee like a regular car even when he knew he wasn't? He didn't want to possibly anger or offend the Autobot. Worse yet, if Sam brought up Barricade, could he really lie to his friend? He wasn't sure if he could or not.

* * *

><p>The end of the day came quicker than Miles would have liked. He got his homework for the night, and then walked to the shiny yellow Camaro in the parking lot. Miles bothered to text Barricade as he went, seeing Sam leaning against the hood of his car. He warned him that they'd be heading up towards the lookout, unsure whether Bumblebee would be able to detect Bumblebee or not. Shoving his phone in his pocket, he put on a smile, praying he didn't look anywhere close to as nervous as he felt. He watched Sam get in the driver's side, tossing his backpack in the back.<p>

Miles followed his example on the opposite side, glancing around Bumblebee's interior, looking at it for the first time despite having ridden in the Autobot several times before. The only thing he could see that made the Autobot stand out was the insignia on the steering wheel and he pretended not to notice, keeping his hands firmly in his lap. He stayed silent as Sam, no Bumblebee, he realized, pulled out of the school parking lot. He could see that Sam was just pretending to drive, letting the Autobot actually take control. The two stayed silent for five awkward minutes.

"Bumblebee," Miles suddenly said, watching in satisfaction as Sam jerked in surprise. If he had actually been driving they would have swerved into the opposite lane, so Miles was thankful Bumblebee was in control.

"W-what?" Sam laughed nervously, glancing in his direction.

Miles grinned, "Your car. Yellow with black, like a Bumblebee. It's the perfect nickname."

"Oh," Sam seemed to sigh in relief, "Yeah, me 'nd Kaela already beat you to the nickname, call 'im Bee. Sorry, buddy.

"Ah, well." Miles said happily, the two lapsing into silence once more.

They pulled up to the lookout, surprised to find no one else was there. Miles started to feel ten times more awkward, but didn't say anything. He stole a glance at Sam, taking a small amount of enjoyment to find that he looked slightly nervous.

"So, uh…" Sam started, seeming to lose the small determination that had started him talking halfway through. "Mikaela said that a cop car picked you up yesterday. What's up with that?"

Miles tried not to feel a bit bitter as he realized what Sam was getting at. He and Mikaela obviously remembered Barricade's alt mode, and even if the 'con had changed the slogan on his side he didn't look that different. It did make sense that Sam might be afraid that Barricade was trying to get Miles to get to Sam, but he wished it hadn't been the reason Sam thought to start talking to him again. It made Miles feel like being a little mean.

"Oh, Officer Ticon?" Miles asked, shrugging a bit as if it were nothing. "I met him a bit ago. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he helped me out of a bad jam. Saved me from juvie."

Sam jerked up in his seat, sitting a little straighter. It was a little mean, but Miles was satisfied at the result it got him. Sam looked absolutely gob smacked, staring at his friend in evident horror and clearly wondering how he could have missed something so big in his friend's life.

"What?" Sam nearly yelled, "Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped!"

"When would I have, Sam? We haven't had a decent conversation since you ditched me at the lake party for Mikaela. I'm happy you get her; I mean you've been pining after her for years, but after that you just… drew away. I tried to hang out, you were always busy. I tried to text you or call you and you either couldn't talk, or never said much. I know something happened, Sam! And it's fine that you never told me, I can dig that, but you basically dropped contact with me. And you expect me to rely on you for help after all that?" Miles ground out, instantly regretting how harsh he sounded when he saw Sam flinch out of the corner of his eye.

He wanted to be a little mean, felt it was his right, but he never wanted to hurt Sam. He sighed heavily, getting out of Bumblebee and moving around to the front of the Autobot, leaning against the yellow hood. Sam instantly scrambled out after him, looking at him nervously. Miles glared pointedly forward, before sighing again and dropping his gaze to the ground. If anyone could pull of a kicked puppy look, Sam sure could. He made a mental note to ask him to teach him the look later, if they ever got over their awkwardness around each other.

"I'm not going to apologize for what I said because it's true, Sam. But I will apologize for being so harsh about it." Miles muttered softly, glancing inside of the now empty Camaro. He almost expected to see a holoform there.

Sam nodded, "Look man, I'm sorry. You're right about something happening… What the government said about Mission City was just a cover up. Me and 'Kaela where there, but I can't tell you exactly what happened. It could put you in danger, or something…"

"So was it humongous giant aliens?" Miles asked, nearly laughing at the look on Sam's face. "Nah, I bet it was Godzilla!"

"Haha, yeah…" Sam looked at the ground nervously, "I shouldn't have just dropped off contact with you like I did. I can't really go into details, but I've been busy and preoccupied, so we wouldn't have been able to hang much anyway. I almost wish you would have been there with me, I have missed you…"

Miles grinned, "Aww, sounds like we got ourselves a total bromance in the wings. Sure Mikaela won't get a bit jealous now that we've made up?"

Sam just laughed and shook his head. He had missed Miles a lot, that wasn't a lie. He had a way of putting a light spin on any serious situation and he could always make people laugh. He was amazed by how quickly his friend had melted the awkwardness between them, but was relieved by it as well. When Mikaela had told him about seeing Miles get into a cop car he had nearly thrown a fit in panic. He remembered all too well how threatening Barricade had been, and was scared that maybe the Decepticon was using his friend for something. But now he wasn't worried at all.

"So what happened that this cop had to bail you out of? You never did say." Sam asked, leaning against Bumblebee's hood with his hands in his pockets.

Miles suddenly looked nervous, "I…I'd really rather not say. It's kind of embarrassing how it happened."

Sam looked at his friend curiously, and then shrugged. "Alright, man."

Sam figured his friend had the right to keep a few secrets, especially with all that he was keeping from him. They spent the next few hours just talking, catching up with each other and joking around. Miles felt slightly bad for fooling his friend, but he figured that in this instance the truth would hurt more than the lie. They eventually got back inside Bumblebee, and drove back to Sam's house. Miles called his mother and left a message saying he was spending the night. He then texted Barricade and informed him of the same thing.


	5. Roses in the face

_AN: I finally got some reviews! Woohoo!_

_**Prowlersgirl**: Pointed out that it should be "To punish and enslave" not "to punish and enforce". I'm going off the wiki page for Barricade under the Transformers movie section, and it says "To punish and enforce." So until I get around to watching the first movie again or have proof otherwise, that's what I'm going with.  
><em>**Edit:  
><em>SkyHighFan <em>**_says the same thing that** Prowlersgirl** did. I went back to the movie and watched the scene and it IS "to punish and ENSLAVE". The wiki page was wrong, and I corrected it.  
>So, <strong>a special thanks to the two of them<strong> for pointing out my mistake. Thanks a lot guys!_

_**Writergurl616**: Another Transformers fan who thinks Miles deserves more love! Thanks for the review, hun. You brought up Leo, and while I love Leo, especially Leo with Simmons, I'm not sure if he'll make an appearance in this story._

_**Bookworm Gal**: Yes, Miles does need a little more attention! I can't be the only one who sees the epic bromance capabilities between him and Sam, right?_

_Also, I want to make this very clear, my story is set in Bayverse, or movie-verse for Transformers if that wasn't obvious. While I do plan to bring in characters not in the Bay movies, like Prowl, I really don't know all that much about any other version of Transformers. So I'll be relying on wikipedia and fansites for any factual information. But for characters that were in the Bay movies I do plan to use their Bay movie counterparts. This may change if I like another version of an Autobot/Decepticon better, but that hasn't come up yet. While this hasn't been an issue yet, when it does come up if you see something wrong PLEASE inform me. I will be taking a bit of liberty with this story and may change a few things here and there, it is a FANfic._

_But I do NOT own Transformers, and blahblahblah. If we did we would see epic bromance between Sam and Miles!_

* * *

><p>Everything went surprisingly well for a few weeks. Miles had his best friend back, and he and Mikaela were even in a kind of awkward friendship. Sam was to blame for most of the awkwardness between the two, having reminded Miles, with Mikaela nearby, how he used to call her the evil jock concubine. As payback Miles had invited the two over to have a scary movie night, including the movie Christine. It was almost funny how easily Sam was scared by the movies, but watching him freak out over Christine gave Miles a kind of smug satisfaction.<p>

Barricade was getting more and more stir crazy. Miles couldn't really blame him, all the 'con had to do was drive around and browse the internet without Miles there. With Miles he had some company and somebody to talk too, but it wasn't like they could really relate. Miles had never fought once in his life, physically anyway, much less killed anyone or been in a war.

To Barricade his life span was like the blink of an eye, and when they were together, in those silent moments where neither had anything to say, he could feel is mortality crashing in on him and suffocating him. Miles had never seen himself as fragile before, but now it was like a little voice was in the back of his head, whispering of all the things that could kill him. He never mentioned anything about it, and neither did Barricade. He wondered if Sam felt the same way whenever he was with Bumblebee.

To the outside eye it might not seem like Miles and Barricade were that close. It often might seem like Miles was making the huge 'con angry, but in truth that was just how he acted. That wasn't to say Barricade didn't get angry at the teenager, but this anger was a new one for him. Before if he had been angry at an acquaintance, he'd never call anyone a friend, or if they had had a dispute they would have a fight. Whoever came out on top was the winner and that was that. He couldn't do that with Miles, at least not physically. Barricade was half afraid that if he breathed to hard on the young fleshling it could kill him.

They did have the occasional verbal disagreement. This would usually come around when Miles thought Barricade had been needlessly reckless and could have been caught, and Barricade would fight back because he couldn't stand that a "pathetic fleshling" was worried about him. This would end with Miles walking off for the rest of the day, and then coming back the next like nothing had happened. That was just fine with Barricade. He was a fighter, not an overly emotional Cybertronian.

They were friends, despite how different they were. Miles was open about his feelings to Barricade, often using them to tease and disturb the 'con if he could. He found it ridiculously funny that such an advanced being was afraid of having someone close to him, but he supposed after a war like theirs he might have been too. Whenever he got to thinking too much about all that the Cybertronian may have gone through, he usually related Barricade to a bear. Grizzly on the outside, but a teddy on the inside.

Miles fell into a relaxed state, not being nearly as nervous about Sam finding out about Barricade as before. In fact, at this very moment he was in the shut down drive in with Barricade, and texting Sam. Barricade himself was using a holoform, just incase anyone came, and was relaxed against the side of his alt form. Like usual he was wearing the police uniform, and he had a scowl on his face. Miles was sitting inside his alt form with the door open and his legs touching the ground, not bothering to actually get out.

"You sure do seem to be wanting to go a lot of places lately." Miles commented, looking at Barricade's holoform.

Barricade rolled his eyes, "Can you blame me? I think I've gone stir crazy. I didn't even know Cybertronians could go stir crazy. There's something messed up about your planet. Must make us glitch."

Miles laughed, "Admit it, you just like feeling me inside of you."

There was a few beats of silence before Miles actually realized the double meaning of what he had said. He felt his cheeks heat with embarrassment while Barricade started to laugh.

"You stupid Cybertronians come with too many possible innuendos. It's not my fault!" he huffed, climbing out of Barricade.

"You just have extremely poor word choice, fleshling." Barricade chuckled.

Miles ignored him in favor of climbing up on Barricade's hood and relaxing against the windshield. He yawned, texting Sam again. When the question of what he was doing came up, he replied he was hanging out with Officer B at the old drive in. He didn't think anything about it, he had told Sam they were hanging out before and nothing ever came out of it.

Miles stretched lazily, starting to nod off on top of Barricade. The hood was just warm enough from reflecting the sun to be comfortable, and he could feel the engine running. He closed his eyes, drifting into a state of semi-consciousness. He was still aware of where he was and who he was with, but most of the sounds around them were tuned out, and Miles just day dreamed. He was only brought back to reality when he heard Barricade use the English equivalent of a Cybertronian cussword.

"SLAG!" Barricade growled, causing Miles to flinch and open his eyes.

The next thing he knew he could feel the saleen police cruiser reverse quickly, causing him to slide off the hood and hit the ground hard. Winded, he stared up at the clear blue sky in confusion, hearing Barricade speed off and then disappear. After a minute or two he sat back up, and after a couple of minutes he saw a shiny yellow Camaro pull in to the parking lot.

_Ah, that explains it_, he thought, rubbing his back as he stood up and waved.

Sam pretended to drive over to him, rolling down the window. "Thought you said you were here with Officer B?"

Miles put on a smile, "He got called in for something or another. What are you doing here?"

Sam grinned right back, "Thought I'd come kidnap you. The last thing I need is you to become a hard ass from hanging around a cop too much. …And there's a new movie I really want to see but 'Kaela refuses to go with me. Since you were on the way I figured I'd stop by and invite the both of you, but since Officer Ticon isn't here it can be just you and me."

Miles opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he heard Sam's phone go off. He laughed when Sam looked embarrassed, gesturing for him to answer it. He watched Sam walk off as he did so, starting to walk towards Bumblebee. He nearly tripped when he heard Sam raise his voice and the word Decepticon come out of his mouth. He nearly froze, glancing at Sam nervously then letting his gaze fall on Bumblebee. He had no idea that a Cybertronian could talk on the phone, but from what he could hear of the conversation he had to assume it was the Autobot.

He pulled out his own phone, quickly texting Barricade and telling him to lie low. He waited next to the Camaro until Sam came back over to him.

"On second thought, can we go to my house? Just have a guys night? A friend of the family wants to borrow my car for a hot date of his tonight." Sam explained, trying to sound sincere even though Miles could see it as a lie.

He just nodded, smiling. "Of course! Wouldn't want to cramp his style."

* * *

><p>The next morning Miles was the first to wake up. He had spent the night at Sam's, sleeping next to his friend's bed on the floor. He stood up, looking to Sam to make sure he was asleep. Being as silent as possible Miles dug Sam's phone out from it's hiding place in a drawer, and looked through the texts. He felt bad for ignoring his friend's privacy, but if there was anything he could tell Barricade then he had to do it.<p>

It wasn't hard to figure out that BB was Bumblebee. He guessed that The Hatchet was Ratchet, and Hard$$ was Ironhide. He was sure OP stood for Optimus Prime. Those were the first contacts to appear, the people Sam had been talking to last night. Thinking for a moment, he chose to read the conversation between Bumblebee and Sam. After doing that he was fairly sure he had everything he wanted to know, so he carefully put the phone back in it's hiding spot, and texted Barricade.

Extra Autobots would be coming into town to do an extensive search three days from now. He didn't know what one's, and just texted Barricade the information he could find out. He sat back down on the floor until Sam woke up, and the two made plans to see the movie Sam had wanted to see the next day.

* * *

><p>The next evening Miles let Sam come pick him up with Bumblebee, reluctantly leaving his phone at home to charge because he had accidentally let it go dead. It wasn't like he planned on texting during the movie, but he had a small nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that things were going to go terribly wrong. He shook it off, figuring he was just worrying too much about when the extra Autobots would come into town in two days.<p>

Miles let himself enjoy the movie, but half way through Sam disappeared into the bathroom. After a few minutes he became worried for his friend, wondering if he was suffering from something. Being the good friend that he was he went to check on Sam, but when he got to the bathroom doorway he froze, Sam's voice floating out towards him. He listened in, guessing that when Sam paused the other person on the end of the line was talking.

"What do you mean they're really coming tonight? You told me they'd be coming in three days, and that still leaves two days! ….Why would they hack into my phone company just to see my texting? …. Well, okay, it is kind of obvious that you're with me… Ugh, fine. Now I have to text mom to hide Mojo in the house in case Ironhide stops by. The last thing I need is him trying to "exterminate" Mojo again. Bye, Bee." Sam finished, hanging up the phone.

Miles reached into his pocket to grab his phone and warn the Decepticon, then cursed when he realized it was home. He shoved the bathroom door open, heading inside quickly as he thought of a good excuse to give to Sam to get them out of there quickly and give him a way to get to Barricade.

_Oh come on!_, he thought, _The only time things go so badly so quickly is in the movies! This is can't actually be happening!_

Sam looked at him questioningly, and Miles took a deep breath. "I forgot that my mom wanted me to pick something up for her, and I left my phone at home so she's going to expect me to have it. The store is going to be closing early, so we need to go. She'll have my ass on a silver platter if we don't!"

Sam just nodded, a bit worried about how freaked out Miles seemed. When Miles practically shoved him out of the movie theatre and towards Bumblebee, he got even more worried. He knew his mom could be strict, but he didn't see why Miles was freaking out this badly. Getting in and pretending to start Bumblebee, he went to where Miles told him.

"A flower shop?" he asked incredulously.

Miles practically bolted out of the Camaro and ran into the store, not bothering with an explanation. He only paused long enough to actually buy a bouquet of roses, and then ran out the back door. The flower shop was one of the closest stores to where he usually met Barricade, and he silently prayed that the 'con hadn't left for a drive.

Alternating between a sprint and fast walking, he got there in about 15 minutes. Thanking the small dose of adrenaline running through his veins for that, he made his way over to Barricade. The 'con appeared to be in recharge, so Miles tapped on his hood impatiently, holding the bouquet of roses close to his chest.

Startled, the Decepticon snapped out of his light recharge. He silently took in a red in the face Miles, clutching roses to his chest.

"I'm flattered, really, but roses just aren't my thing." Barricade drawled.

Miles scowled, "Haha, you're so fraggin' funny, Barry. I came to tell you that the Autobots are coming tonight. Apparently they were paranoid about someone hacking into Sam's phone company and reading his texts so they lied."

Barricade growled, "Oh that's just wonderful. According to my scans there's one heading right for us."

Miles shifted nervously, "Yeah, that's probably Sam and Bumblebee. I was hanging with him at the movies and one thing led to another and bam, I'm here. With flowers. I mean, I know Tranquility's a small town, but it almost feels like a movie…" He trailed off as he watched Barricade transform into his bipedal form, awed by the transformation.

"No, it's the trigger happy one." Barricade growled, picking Miles up and setting him in a tree. He ignored Miles gob smacked expression.

"Hey! Put me back down!" Miles yelled, getting angrier as Barricade ignored him and walked away. "Get back here and get me out, you stupid oversized bear!"

Miles fumed as Barricade disappeared completely from view. He started to look for the best route down, and saw a black GMC topkick go flying past. He muttered to himself angrily, having to take his time to get out of the tree so he wouldn't hurt himself. By the time he reached a branch he could jump off of he saw Bumblebee pull up and Sam get out.

"Miles, how the hell did you get up there?" Sam asked, staring up at his friend as he quickly got out of Bumblebee.

"Attempting to call upon my chimpanzee ancestors!" Miles sarcastically replied, putting the bouquet of roses in his mouth and swinging down onto Bumblebee's hood.

"Dude, you need to tell me what's going on." Sam said, staring at his friend as he slid off Bumblebee's hood.

Miles took off running, "There's no time!" He disappeared behind some trees before Sam could get anything else out.

Sam got back into Bumblebee quickly, the Autobot racing after Miles. He grew frustrated when they couldn't get to his best friend because of trees and bushes that were in the way. At this rate Miles would end up where Barricade and Ironhide were fighting. Not only could he get hurt, but Sam had at least hoped that if Miles had to find out about giant robotic aliens from outer space it that he would have been told and then shown.

Bumblebee came to a stop when he reached the area where Barricade and Ironhide were fighting, quickly transforming and picking Sam up. He held his tiny charge to his chest protectively, ready for anything to happen. He watched the battle between his fellow Autobot and the Decepticon closely, surprised to see that the 'con was mainly defending himself and trying to disable Ironhide but not out right harm him. Ironhide didn't seem to notice, or didn't care.

His optics were drawn away from the battle only when he heard Sam cry out Miles name. He looked and saw the young teenager to be closer to the battle than he should be, and Sam was frantically trying to get his friends attention and call him away from the spot he was in. He noticed Barricade look at Miles in shock, only to be knocked on his aft the next instant by Ironhide. Ironhide shoved his cannon in the 'cons face, ready to blow him to pieces. But the next moment surprised everyone.

"HEY YOU BIG STUPID AUTOBOT! TAKE THIS!" he yelled, tossing the bouquet of roses at Ironhide as hard as he could.

Ironhide turned to look at what had made the noise, only to be hit in the face by the bouquet of roses. Of course this didn't do any damage whatsoever to the large, war-hardened Autobot, but it shocked him into freezing. In fact, everyone froze. Bumblebee and Sam looked at Miles with a mixture of horror, amusement, and awe. Barricade would have looked at him if he could have trusted Ironhide to take an optic off of him.

Ironhide turned his cannon on Miles, causing the young teenager to squeak and raise his hands as if to defend himself. "No, I don't feel lucky!" He exclaimed, looking ready to back down, but then thinking better of it.

He walked closer to Ironhide and Barricade, coming to a stop directly next to the Decepticon. He could hear Sam in the background, yelling at him to get away from there, but he ignored his friend in favor of glaring up at the Autobot. He put his hands on his hips to add to the look.

"You! Where do you get off attacking someone who hasn't even done anything to deserve it? Has he done anything to any of you since before Mission City?" he stood his ground, feeling everyone's eyes on him.

Ironhide growled, "No, bu-"

Miles quickly interrupted him, raising his voice. "No buts! Barricade was loyal to Megatron, but now Megatron is dead! He hates Starscream, and refuses to be under his command." he gestured to the stunned Decepticon beside him. "He hasn't done a single thing to make you guys come after him!"

Sam spoke up from his spot in Bumblebee's hand, staring at his friend with a weird expression on his face. "Miles, you don't get it, Barricade is dan-"

Miles turned his glare on Sam now, "No, you don't get it, Sam! Bumblebee and Ironhide are just as dangerous as Barricade, and you don't have a problem with them. I know he threatened you for those glasses, but he never actually hurt you. Just threatened to."

Ironhide looked between Sam and Miles, "So what are you saying, the 'con wants to play friendly? Wants to be an Autobot?"

Miles huffed, looking back up at Ironhide. "I doubt he wants to be an Autobot, ever. But he could be a neutral, right?"

"He could provide us with some information about the Decepticons that we don't know, in return for us giving him a place to stay, Energon, and possible protection as a neutral, right?" Bumblebee offered, his voice rough and broken, sound staticky compared to his fellow Cybertronians. "I can comm Optimus and see what he says."

Barricade growled, "Hey, don't I get a say in this?"

"No!" Miles snapped at him. "You're way of laying low obviously failed, and you said yourself that Starscream would try to kill you again if any other Decepticons know where you are. This is the best option."

Barricade glared at Miles, slowly getting to his feet as Ironhide backed away from him. He picked the teenager up, shoving him in Bumblebee's direction as he watched Ironhide carefully. Bumblebee took Miles from him, holding him in the same hand as he held Sam.

"Optimus says we can lead Barricade to the base and see what we can work out. He wants Miles to come since Miles apparently is…friends with Barricade." Bumblebee said, saying the word friends with clear disbelief. "Sam will come along as well to be with Miles." He set the two teens down, transforming into his Camaro form.

Ironhide and Barricade transformed as well, the three Cybertronians lining up. Bumblebee in front, Barricade in the middle, and Ironhide bringing up the rear. Sam and Miles got into Bumblebee, Sam no longer even bothering to pretend to drive the Autobot. Both Barricade and Ironhide activated their holoforms.

Miles sighed, leaning back into Bumblebee. "I'm kinda happy this happened. It was kind of hard hiding that I knew from you, and freaking you out making you think I had guessed or noticed something strange at the same time."

"Wait, that was why you had us watch Christine! I couldn't get in Bumblee for a week without flinching because of you!" Sam exclaimed, glaring as Miles laughed. "Wait, that's not important, tell me how you know about all of this!"

Miles rolled his eyes, telling Sam everything that had happened since finding Barricade. He included Bumblebee into the conversation since he didn't really have a choice as they were inside the Autobot. He skimmed over unimportant details. After he had finished all three were silent.

It was true that he was kind of happy that they had been found out, especially since it seemed that they were able to get an audience with Optimus without having Barricade getting to banged up. But he couldn't help but worry over what would happen. He didn't fool himself into thinking that any of the Autobots would just trust the Decepticon, or that the Decepticon would be welcome. He just hoped that Barricade would behave long enough to at least not get hurt.


	6. Change of pace

_**AN: Yay, more reviews! THANK YOU ALL.**_

_The Result of Squffie_: **I don't think they hate Miles, it's just that he had like five minutes of being in the sidelines and that was it. Not many pay attention to that, haha. Over Barricade being attacked, we all know Ironhide's more than ready to shoot anything. Especially a 'con. Barricade's no innocent in the Cybertronian war, and Ironhide knows it. You don't exactly just look a perceived threat in the eye that could kill you and do nothing, especially when you're Ironhide.**

_Autobot Firekat_: **I plan to!**

_Cartastic_: **Thank you. **

_XDarkestAngelX_: **Third person to tell me that it's "To punish and enslave" not "to punish and enforce". I changed it after the second person told me, but thanks anyway.**

_Bookworm Gal_: **Itty bitty teenage boy with no weapons vs. Ironhide? Yeah, itty bitty teenage boy knows that battle doesn't even need started! Just toss roses in his face and hope it shocks him long enough to yell at him.**

_**If anyone has any ideas for Miles new hairstyle then please send me a picture or drawing! I thought getting rid of his hippie hair would be a refreshing change. I looked at the actor that played him, but I couldn't find a hair style I liked.**_

_**Also, I'm putting he's basically had the same type of hair style because most of the hair styles I could find for John Robinson, his actor in the movie, looked similar.**_

* * *

><p>"So… You threw roses at him? What exactly were you hoping to achieve, young Miles?" Optimus asked, face mask down to hide the amused expression on his faceplates as he stared down at the teen on his desk.<p>

Miles sighed, glancing around the room. He didn't understand why he had to debrief the Prime, much less on his own. The others had been with him for a bit, but after Ironhide had taken Barricade's weapons away, the Weapons Specialist had left. Ratchet, the Medic, had taken Barricade to work out the dents and scratches in his armor. Bumblebee had left with Sam so that Sam could call his parents and say he wouldn't be returning for the night.

Glancing back up at Optimus, he shrugged. "I dunno, I guess I just wanted to distract him. It worked. On all of them, actually."

Optimus cycled air through his vents, the Cybertronian equivalent of a sigh. He stayed quiet for a moment as he studied Miles. Miles spent the time under his gaze trying not to twitch.

"Your race has always amazed me by how…brave you can be despite your tiny size and short life span." Optimus finally said, glancing away from the fidgety teenager.

Miles laughed, "Tiny little teenage me with no weapons going against Ironhide. I don't think anyone's brave enough to think that'll work out, much less me. The bigger they are the easier they are to shock into stunned silence."

Optimus allowed himself to chuckle, just a little bit. His amused smile was hid firmly behind his facemask. He watched as Miles stood up.

"Look, I know and you know that Barry's not going to be trusted just because a human vouches for him. I'm just going to assume that he's probably not even exactly welcome, except maybe to be grilled by Ironhide if he made me crazy. Both sides have done damage to the other side. I'm going to guess that every Autobot here has done some sort of damage to a Decepticon?" he waited until Optimus nodded to continue. "And Barricade has done his own fair share of damage to Autobots, I'm sure. I'm not going to ask you to trust him, or even be welcoming towards him. Just…"

"Put up with him?" Optimus offered, more than surprised that the human actually seemed to care for Barricade.

Miles nodded, "Yes. Put up with him. Barry's stubborn so I don't know if he'll even accept staying here, and if he does I don't know if he'll offer anything in return. We have talked before about him becoming a Neutral. I know it's not polite to ask for something when the other may get nothing in return, but…"

Optimus carefully picked Miles up, bringing him closer to his face. "You care for Barricade." It was more of a statement then a question.

"Yeah. He grows on you, I guess. And I keep imagining him as a bear. Grizzly on the outside, but a teddy on the inside. Which is why I like to call him Barry, it's close to Bear. But that's just between you and me, big guy." Miles said, grinning.

Optimus laughed, "I believe I would enjoy seeing you say that to him, but I will not tell him you said that, young friend. If Barricade does become a Neutral then he will be welcome at the Autobot base. His weapons will remain with us, however, until further notice."

"I'll just get him a bunch of flowers to throw, that works pretty well in surprising you Autobots. May I suggest that you have someone do that in a training session? Gotta be prepared for anything in the heat of battle." Miles climbed out of Optimus' hand, and started to climb down his desk.

"I'll talk to Ironhide about it. I'm sure he'll appreciate your suggestion, having been taking out by those deadly plants himself." Optimus replied, a smirk hidden behind his face mask. "If worse comes to worse I will ask you to act as a liaison between Barricade and ourselves."

Miles laughed, "Designate me as Flower Power and I'm your guy, big man!"

He quickly left Optimus' office through the human door, nearly running right into Sam. Bumblebee was standing in bipedal form near to his charge. He realized they both had been listening in by the way Sam grinned at him.

"Soooo, Flower Power and Bear, huh? Best dynamic duo I've heard of yet. 'Kaela will love it. Flower Power definitely suits you, you look like a frikkin' hippie, dude." Sam smirked at him.

Miles huffed, "Leave my hair out of this, Witwacky!"

Sam laughed, "Original, Flower Power, very original!"

The two playfully threw insults at each other back and forth as Bumblebee picked them up and put them on his shoulders. The young Autobot carried them to the hangar that Barricade was currently staying in. When he entered he saw that the Decepticon was in his alt form.

Barricade growled, rolling forward. "Leave me and Miles alone for a moment."

Despite the slightly nervous look that Miles had, Bumblebee set the young human down. He left the hangar with Sam quickly, stationing himself and his charge far enough away that Sam couldn't hear that easily, but Bumblebee could still hear perfectly.

* * *

><p>Sam looked at his watch, then at Bumblebee with wide eyes. "It's been an hour and they're still fighting?"<p>

He had moved closer despite Bumblebee's protests. He was close enough that he could just make out the yelling that had been almost happening nonstop. He didn't know Barricade, and didn't like him, but he was more than willing to put up with him if Miles was okay with him. He was happy he couldn't hear what was being said if it was making his friend scream like that.

Bumblebee was about to reply when they were startled by Miles suddenly appearing through the door for the humans, slamming it shut behind him. He stormed over to the yellow Autobot and the human, hands clenched into fists. All three were silent as Miles calmed himself down.

Miles finally broke the silence, "I need to contact my parents. What do I tell them?"

"Optimus and I can take care of that. I'll drop you and Sam off at the human sleep station." Bumblebee replied, picking up the still irate human and his charge. "Most of the NEST members are on vacation, or are in the rec-room. I have comm'd Ironhide and he has said that Captain Lennox and Sergeant Epps will be there to get to see you."

Miles just nodded. Sam looked hard at his friend until Miles finally mouthed 'Later' at him. Bumblebee carried them all the way to where the humans slept, setting the two down in front of the door. Sam led Miles inside, where they could see Captain Lennox and Sergeant Epps.

Epps walked over to Miles with a huge grin on his face, hugging him. "I barely know you, and I already love you. You are amazing for technically taking down Ironhide with flowers."

Miles laughed awkwardly, "All I did was distract him. I didn't technically take him down." He wasn't sure whether to return the hug or just pat the African-American on the back.

Will chuckled, "If it had been a real battle that distraction could have gotten him killed, so you technically took him down. At least according to Ironhide, so he's pretty pissed off. I'm Captain William Lennox, but you can call me Will. This is Sergeant Robert Epps."

"I prefer Epps, though." Epps said, the wide grin still in place.

Miles shook both of their hands, "I'm Miles Lancaster, but I'd prefer just Miles. If it makes Ironhide feel any better you could tell him that I'm pretty sure if he flicked me hard enough I'd be a goner."

"It won't, but I will suggest not going too close to him for another hour or two." Will said, smiling. He led Miles to a room with two beds in it. "This is where you and Sam will be staying."

"Alright, guys night!" Miles yelled, pumping a fist in the air.

Sam laughed, playfully shoving his friend into the room. When it turned into a wrestling match Will and Epps placed bets on the winner. Miles finally won after he attacked Sam's ticklish arm pits, leaving him begging for mercy underneath his friend. Will had to give Epps twenty dollars, cussing Sam out gently.

* * *

><p>No one had seen Miles since that morning after he and Sam had woke up. After Will and Epps had left the two young boys alone, Sam had nearly had to beat his friend to get him to say all that had happened between him and Barricade. He could tell his friend had left some stuff out, but never said anything about it.<p>

When Miles finally appeared in the human rec-room, Sam's mouth had nearly hit the floor. He had been friends with Miles for practically forever, and he had always had about the same hair style. He often used to get teased about it in school, being called a hippie or a skater-wanna-be. But gone was the shoulder length hair that Sam had become so used to, the hair that had given Miles his peace loving vibe.

Miles gave his friend a small smile, "I went and saw Will's wife after we woke up, and let her have at me." He fingered a strand of dirty blonde hair. "Do you like it?"

"But, your hair…" Sam said, staring at his friend with wide eyes.

Epps leaned over the side of the couch and smacked Sam over the head. He grinned at Miles.

"Let Sarah have a go at ya, huh? Smart move there. She's pretty good at making hair styles that look decent or flattering, or even just giving you whatever you want." Epps said, letting his voice turn deadly serious. "But you sold your soul to the devil, I'm afraid. Now she'll never stop trying to cut your hair."

Will hissed at Epps, "Don't call my wife the devil if you want to live."

Miles laughed at the two, "I figured she might be a good bet from the way y'all talked about her. Very mothering, and beautiful. Thought it was time for a change of pace, and I think she did a good job.

Epps whistled, "Boys smart. Knows not to insult a woman in anyone's hearing, especially not her own, or around a lackey of hers."

"I prefer to sleep in the bed, not on the couch, thank you very much." Will glared at Epps, locking the African-American in a head lock and giving him a noogie.

Sam laughed, grabbing Miles and leading his friend out of the rec-room. "C'mon, I have inside information on a prank that's about to be pulled, all because of you and your roses. We need to get there quick or we'll miss out on the good seats."


	7. I'm not your boyfriend, baby

**AN: So I have no life, and I wanted to get this chapter out of the way. Poor Barricade, you should know better than to trust an Autobot! I couldn't resist finding a way to embarrass Barricade. **

_The Result of Squffie:_ Miles with Roxas' hair style? I dunno about that. I love Roxas but to realistically have any hope of getting that hair it'd require hair gel. I don't think Miles would constantly want to mess around with his hair.

_writergurl616:_ Bear and Flower Power will go down in the fan-fiction history books as one of the most epic duos ever! Concerning the fight they had, could you really see Barricade just having nothing to say about Miles sticking up for him, technically saving his neck, and then getting him in with the Autobots without him having a say? Yeaaah, no.

_Bookworm Gal:_ Of course there'd be pranks!

**The song lyrics used are from **I'm not your boyfriend by 3oh!3. **They are used in italics.**

* * *

><p>"You!" a voice yelled at them, prompting Sam and Miles to turn around.<p>

Miles let out a squawk as he was suddenly picked up by a yellow mech that he had never seen before, and held close to it's spark chamber.

"Sunstreaker! What are you doing with Miles?" Sam asked, apparently just as baffled as his friend.

"He's the inspiration for our latest prank, so I'm taking him with me to the best seat for it." Sunstreaker explained, already striding down the hall and away from Sam.

Miles tried to look at where they were going, but he eventually gave up when he remembered that he hadn't even had a tour of the base yet. After a few minutes they finally arrived at their intended destination, Sunstreaker setting him down once they reached the roof of a building.

Miles stayed silent, looking down at the ground over the edge. The building he was standing on was almost directly beside another, a narrow alley between the two. Narrow for an Autobot, at least. He doubted that Optimus would be able to make it. He saw a mech walking towards him, and his stomach dropped when he realized the mech that they were going to get.

"IRONHIDE STO-" But it was too late.

Miles watched in horror as he saw a previously unnoticed red mech on the other roof. The mech dumped clear liquid down onto Ironhide. Next came so many rose petals that the Weapons Specialist was practically buried in them. Once he got out of that another liquid was dumped on him, this one Miles knew to be perfume because he could smell it from his place on the roof. Ironhide was too shocked to do anything as he examined himself.

Sunstreaker cackled, picking Miles up and running back into the building. They made it back to Sam before they heard Ironhide bellow in rage, and what Miles assumed to be the red mech screaming as he ran away.

Sam whistled, "You might want to go save your twin, Sunstreaker. Sounds like Sideswipe is gonna get his aft handed to him."

Sunstreaker nodded, racing off to help his twin. Sam looked to Miles, smirking. Miles looked a little paler than usual as he watched Sunstreaker race off.

"And you might want to hide from Ironhide." Sam said, trying not to laugh at his friend. "He'll blame you for giving them the idea."

* * *

><p>Miles was able to hide from Ironhide until lunchtime. One minute he was walking next to Sam, and the next he was gone. Sam didn't bother looking for his friend, and went with Bumblebee to go take Barricade some energon.<p>

When they entered the hangar Barricade was in his bipedal form, and looked over to them. When he saw it was just them he looked behind them, then away when he realized no one else was coming in.

Sam frowned at him, "If you're looking for Miles think again. He's probably off being tortured to death by Ironhide, but either way you pissed him off pretty bad."

Barricade growled, "Like I care, fleshling. The other fleshy always comes back around after a day or two."

"Not happening this time, 'con." Sam said, just smiling. "Smart move upsetting the only person on your side. I'd suggest you get a few tips on relationship advice with humans before talking to him again."

* * *

><p>And he was right. He knew his friend, and Miles had two types of angry after a fight. When he wasn't really that angry he would act like nothing happened the next day, or apologize to the other person. If he was actually angry at the person he avoided them until they seeked him out, or he caved. He didn't tend to cave for awhile.<p>

Two days had passed before Barricade reluctantly started to believe Sam. That night he left the hangar he had claimed as his own for the first time since being brought to the Autobot base. He talked to Optimus almost as an afterthought, declaring his now neutral status in the Cybertronian war. He also mentioned his fight with Miles, and Optimus directed him towards Bumblebee. He was surprised when the red mech he recognized as Sideswipe offered him assistance instead.

He only knew Sideswipe from the battlefield, though he had never fought with him personally. He was respected in the 'con ranks for being such a skilled and determined fighter by himself. Pairing him with his brother only made him that much more deadly. So he didn't think anything about it when Sideswipe offered his help, and put a small amount of trust in the mech for that matter. No one else who knew about Sideswipe helping Barricade out, this only being Sam and Bumblebee, thought anything of it either.

Five more days passed until Barricade convinced Bumblebee to convince Sam to bring Miles to his hangar. That meant it had been a week since the two had seen each other last, but Miles was still grumbling angrily under his breath as he was literally dragged there by Sam. Bumblebee followed them, waiting directly outside the hangar. The two went into the hangar through the human door, stopping dead in their tracks once they were inside.

The inside of the hangar looked completely different, and the atmosphere could only be called romantic. Candles were set around the room to create low mood lighting. Barricade's alt form was parked in a corner, windows down to let soft romantic music flow out from the interior. A table sat in the middle of the hangar, looking like it had come from a fancy first class restaurant. Barricade's holoform sat in one of the chairs, decked out in a suit, and looking mildly uncomfortable.

Miles looked around before returning his gaze to Barricade, eyes wide in shock. Sam started to laugh, slowly sinking to the floor of the hangar. He laughed so hard he started to cry, curling up on his side. Miles was trying to think of something to say, anything to say, but for once words failed him as he stared straight at Barricade. The two held each other's gazes; Barricade's nervous, and Miles' confused.

"I wanted to apologize to you, but I wasn't sure how." Barricade began slowly. "So I got someone to tell me what you do for your boyfriend when you have a fight."

If it was possible Miles looked even more shocked, and his face was slowly turning red. Sam just laughed harder.

"Wa-wait!" Sam said, desperately trying to catch his breath and failing. He tried several times to say what he wanted to, and only managed it after Barricade growled at him and threatened him. "Si-Sideswipe was the one he talked to! Oh Primus, this is hilarious! He-oh God!-he li-lied to you, 'Cade!"

Barricade only looked confused, while Miles slowly realized what had happened. The young male groaned, putting his face in his hands.

"Okay, you're totally forgiven, but next time never ask Sideswipe. Ever. Please, please, ask Bumblebee! Optimus even!" Miles softly begged, trying to gather his wits about him.

Sam finally calmed himself down enough to talk. "While it is true that male friends can be called boyfriends, which is probably how he got you, in a… romantic relationship the male is also called a boyfriend. It doesn't matter if it's two guys or a guy and a girl, the guy is a boyfriend."

Realization slowly dawned on the holoform's face as he quickly referenced the internet to make sure. Only two emotions came after that. Slight embarrassment, and rage.

Miles was torn between laughing and groaning again. He left the hangar silently, going and leaning against Bumblebee. Sam watched him go, then looked back at Barricade. He started to laugh again.

"I can't wait to see how you make him pay." Sam said.

Barricade growled, the holoform disappearing. He quickly changed into his bipedal form. Both he and Sam left the hangar, Sam going next to Miles. Barricade walked by Bumblebee, thinking he was at least safe from the tiny yellow Autobot.

_"I'm not your boyfriend, baby!_  
><em>I ain't your cute little sex toy!<em>  
><em>I'm not your lion or your tiger,<em>  
><em>Won't be your nasty little boy!"<em>

The song by 3oh!3 played loudly from Bumblebee's speakers. Sam fell over laughing again, and Miles hid his face in his hands. Barricade snarled, planning to offline Sideswipe permanently.


	8. Here comes Fig

**AN: I was unsure where Tranquility was located, but I knew it was someplace with a fairly steady warm climate. The site I looked off of says Nevada, but if that's wrong please tell me. Since that's the state where the NEST base is located in this story. (NOT Diego Garcia)**

**And yes, I brought in FIG! The annoying Spanish speaking guy! If anyone knows his rank in the military could you tell me? Thanks. Anything I have Fig say in Spanish is off of a translator on the internet, most likely. None of it will ever be important. (I know, you're probably shocked that I actually have something happening in this story!)**

_The Result of Squffie:_ My goodness, you do like hair that would need hair gel to actually be that way, don't you? Gazzy from Maximum Ride is a bit more of a possibility, but still unsure. It would have to look good without natural anime-hair-that-defies-laws-of-nature powers, or hair gel.

**To everyone else: Thanks for the review! I hope you continue to enjoy the story.**

* * *

><p>After Sideswipe tricked Barricade he wasn't seen by anyone except Sunstreaker and Ratchet for two weeks. No one asked what had happened, everyone was almost afraid to. It was common knowledge that all of Barricade's weapons were taken away from him, so no one had any idea of what could have happened. Sam, being the great friend that he was, had taken it upon himself to tease Miles. This had prompted Miles to reply that Barricade would be the bitch in the relationship. Naturally, Barricade was less then pleased. After being threatened by the irate 'con, Sam quieted down.<p>

Sam and Miles returned to their regular school schedule, having to stay away from the base for awhile to catch up and make sure their grades were good. Barricade had to stay behind at the base, while Bumblebee was left with the teenagers. It was the first week of October before they had a chance to go back.

Miles was surprised when he first found out that they were planning to bring Jazz back with the remaining Allspark shard. According to Epps the Allspark shard's location was top secret, and after it was retrieved it would meet Jazz's body back halfway to the base and he would be brought back then. They were playing it safe and planning for a Decepticon attack to try to retrieve the Allspark shard, figuring they would try to use it on Megatron.

After he found out about it he spent an hour convincing Optimus Prime to let him go on the mission. He only caved when Miles pointed out that they had expected Sam to do something that they knew for a fact to be dangerous, while this they had no guarantees that the Decepticons would attack and Miles was volunteering. It helped that he had Epps there with him, and the Sergeant said he'd personally keep an eye on Miles.

That evening they announced the NEST members and Autobots that would be going. Optimus read off the list, having gathered everyone into the Autobot rec-room. "The Autobots going are Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, Ironhide, and Prowl. The humans that are going are Captain Will Lennox, Sergeant Robert Epps, Jorge "Fig" Figueroa, and civilian Miles Lancaster. They will be packing and leaving within the week."

Many people were shocked when they heard Miles' named called, but no one openly said anything about it. Optimus called the people and 'bots going on the mission out of the room for a briefing, leaving everyone else alone in the rec-room. Sam looked at Barricade questioningly, figuring if he didn't know then "Barry" would. Barricade just glared at him. When Miles came back to them Sam practically pounced on his friend.

"Why are you going?" he asked, pulling Miles down on to the couch and holding his arm in case he tried to run.

"I volunteered." Miles replied, grinning slightly. The grin quickly faded when both Sam and Barricade gave him a look. "Well, what exactly do I do around here besides take up space? You defeated Megatron with the Allspark so you're covered, you did your part. But me? Nothin'. I doubt I'll be able to do much on this mission, accept maybe carry the shard while the others are fighting if the 'cons do come. Most likely I won't even get to do that though, right?"

"You don't have to do anything for the fragging Autobots." Barricade said, letting his holoform appear on the arm rest of the couch so the two teens didn't have to crane their necks to be polite.

"I don't have to." Miles started, glaring at Barricade. "But I want to."

Barricade glared right back, "You are making a foolish decision and putting yourself in danger. I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you were this stupid."

Sam quickly got up off the couch, high tailing it over to Epps, Will, and Bumblebee.

"Twenty dollars says Miles gets pissed and doesn't talk to Barricade until we get back with Jazz!" Epps exclaimed, looking at both Will and Sam.

Sam sighed, glancing back at his friend arguing with the Decepticon. "Miles gets pissed, but still talks to Barricade before you guys leave."

"Well… Miles puts Barricade in his place during this argument and Barricade eventually apologizes because he realizes he was wrong." Will said, ignoring the looks that Epps and Sam gave him.

They turned to watch the two more closely. Miles had pulled a couch pillow into his lap to squeeze, and Barricade had stood up try to get his point across better.

"So you're ordering me to stay here?" Miles asked, sounding surprisingly calm despite glaring at Barricade.

Barricade growled, "If it gets you to actually not act like the stupid inferior being you are, then yes!"

Will groaned, "Shit, I'm out."

Miles scowled, tossing the pillow in Barricade's face. "Well it's too damn bad that I don't take orders from oversized bad cops reject. If you have anything else to say you can stuff it up your aft!" And with that he stormed out of the room quickly.

Epps turned to Sam. "It's only a matter of time, my young friend." Sam nodded, saying a rushed goodbye as he chased after Miles.

* * *

><p>As it turned out Epps ended up winning the bet. As their locations and identities were supposed to be kept somewhat secret Miles wouldn't be able to contact anyone while on the mission. He didn't say a single word or even look at Barricade in the five day's they remained on base. Before they left he did tell Sam to say goodbye to the "stupid aft" for him.<p>

The group set off in the early morning. Each human paired off with an Autobot to act as the Cybertronian's driver. Miles got Prowl, Fig got Sunstreaker, Epps got Sideswipe, and Will got Ironhide. Most of the human's weapons were in the back of Ironhide, covered by a tarp and in several boxes. While the Autobots did have their comm links, they switched to radio use for the humans. That way they could talk to, and be heard by the other humans and Autobots.

"Okay, does everyone remember the plan?" Prowl asked, ignoring Miles as he groaned and slumped down in the driver's seat.

Epps cursed softly, "I swear you and Will are the worst. Yes, we know the plan. We leave Nevada. Head for Pennsylvania and retrieve the Allspark shard. On the way back we'll meet up with Autobots First Aid and Inferno who will have Jazz's body in Oklahoma. If we get attacked by 'Cons pray to whatever religion we believe in, add Primus in there, and cover our asses as you guys take care of them. This will hopefully only take around four days. We will sleep inside you guys to save time"

"Epps, you have such bad language, even around Miles." Fig said. "My mom always used to say: Las palabrotas llevan a un alma mala. ¡No hay neces-" he was interrupted before he could finish by Epps and Will.

"FIG, ENGLISH!" They both yelled, causing Miles to burst out into laughter and Fig to grumble.

"No, bro, do-" Sideswipe started to say, surprising everyone but Sunstreaker. Sunstreaker quickly cut him off.

"¿No aprecian los norteamericanos su español que habla herencia?" Sunstreaker asked innocently.

Fig grinned, "Estoy seguro que no es eso. ¡Will y Epps ambos tomaron algún español, yo acabo de adorar para molestarlos consigo porque ellos nunca lo podrían retener!"

Epps and Will slowly let horror overcome them as they realized that now Fig would have someone to talk who enjoyed using Spanish to annoy others almost as much as he did. Epps banged his head off the steering wheel while Will groaned, putting his face in his hands. Miles just laughed.


	9. The Young Grasshopper gets confused

**AN: See if you can guess the Decepticon is from Miles japanese tentacle porn comment. :D**

_XDarkestAngelX:_ I thought it would be a nice touch for Sunstreaker to learn Spanish just to help annoy everybody. And yes, they should know better than to bet against Epps. It's inevitable that they'll lose.

**A little bit of silliness before we get to the real stuff. I'm not sure if I'll actually have any battle scenes, I don't have experience with writing those so I might just skip them entirely.**

* * *

><p><em><span>At the Autobot base in Nevada<span>_

The crew selected to go on the mission hadn't been gone even a full day yet. Mikaela and Judy had arrived during the afternoon. Sarah and Judy had taken it upon themselves to have a cook out for them, Sam, Maggie, Glen, Mikaela, and anyone else who wanted to come. This included the Cybertronians of course, but Sarah was surprised when Barricade showed up behind Bumblebee's holoform, looking slightly reluctant as he glanced around. Bumblebee was in front of him, Sam and Mikaela flanked him on either side, and Judy brought up the rear. Sarah tried not to smile as she thought the poor Decepticon had been forced there.

Optimus and Ratchet appeared as well, both following Bumblebee and Barricade's example and using their holoforms. Glen used the only grill on base and made hamburgers and hotdogs. All the humans ate what they wanted, some of them being cautious of their beverage choice because of Ratchet being there. He said nothing about it even if he did see it, preferring to talk to Judy and Sarah.

As it started to get later Optimus, Ratchet, Maggie, Glen, Judy, and Sarah went inside. Sam and Mikaela stayed outside with Bumblebee and Barricade, watching as the sun set and then using the grill to cook a smuggled bag of marshmallows as they star gazed. They kept the conversation light hearted, all making sure to avoid the topic of Miles and the fight he and Barricade had had. If anything Barricade had expected Sam to be the one who brought it up, or the stupid Autobot who acted as his Guardian. So when Mikaela was the one who said something, he was surprised.

"Y'know, I just don't get you and Miles." Mikaela said, eating another marshmallow. "You two act like your fighting half the time and never have a problem. As far as I know there's only been two major fights between you." She paused, looking at Sam. "I was actually surprised you trusted him so readily."

"It wasn't like I trusted Barricade per say." Sam replied, glancing back at the 'con. "I trusted Miles. Like… Both Trent and Barricade seem like total afts at first, right? But Miles was friends with Barricade. He never became friends with Trent. So it was like… I figured something must be behind that, or else Miles wouldn't bother."

"Or he's just stupid." Barricade offered, leaning back in his chair.

Bumblebee snorted. "Oh please, you know you like him, 'con."

Mikaela cut Barricade off before he could protest. "You can go ahead and admit it. Miles will openly claim you as a friend. What's wrong with doing the same?"

"It implies that I am weak and need emotional bonds to sustain me." Barricade growled.

"Then you're weak and need emotional bonds to sustain you." Bee said, not intimidated by anything Barricade could or might try to do. "Means you fit perfectly here. All us 'bots are weak and need emotional bonds to sustain us!"

Barricade groaned, "Dear Primus, I'm doomed, aren't I?"

"You were doomed from the moment you let Miles know you were alive." Sam said, smirking at Barricade.

"I thought he might go running away." Barricade said dryly. "It appears that he has an unusual reaction to shock. I think he might be glitched.

Sam laughed, "Nope, he's just Miles!"

"Since I'm apparently so easy to read, I suppose I can say that the fleshling does have a certain amount of entertainment value despite being obnoxiously annoying." Barricade said, sighing.

"It can be easy to say things that hurt someone else when you're angry. He'll come around eventually." Mikaela said, offering a small bit of comfort to the 'con.

"If he comes back, that is!" Sam replied cheerfully, shrinking in his seat a bit as Mikaela glared at him. "What, I was just joking! Primus!"

Bumblebee chuckled, "Well, as far as we can tell not that many Decepticons are left on Earth."

"Only Starscream as far as I know. Beyond him I don't have a clue." Barricade said.

Sam waved a hand at them dismissively. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Megatron's still dead at the bottom of the sea so it's not like they're gonna face him."

Mikaela nodded. "If anything they'll be the ones to kill each other."

* * *

><p><em><span>The Allspark shard retrieval group: Somewhere in Pennsylvania<span>_

They were lucky to have Prowl with them. Thanks to the Autobot's alt form they quickly got through any traffic that was blocking their way, and made great time to Pennsylvania. They reached the state early on the second day, having spent the first driving. The humans slept as the Autobots drove on. They only stopped for food and bathroom breaks. If they continued on like they were they'd arrive at Oklahoma early on the third morning, and have some time to relax. At one such stop at a small mini-mart Miles bought a small black hair dryer and black sunglasses.

Epps looked at him curiously, "What are those for?"

Miles just grinned, putting the shades on and holding the hair dryer like a cop would hold a radar gun at passing cars. He went back to Prowl and got inside the Autobot. Much to Epps' amusement he could hear the Autobot and the teen arguing over whether he could use it to spook people or not. After a half hour of listening to them Will decided to speak up.

"Maybe Barricade will let you use them while riding inside of him." The captain suggested from inside Ironhide.

For a moment there was only silence, but Miles finally spoke up. "I've been banned from anything cop related inside of him."

"What did you do?" Epps asked, relaxing in Sideswipe and not even bothering to pretend to drive as he played a game on his phone.

"He has a police radio, right? So he can listen to transmissions and such if he's bored. Basically he just likes to spy, but that's besides the point. He'll actually occasionally pose as an officer and give out helpful information. I asked if I could say ten-four. When he said no I asked if I could say roger, over and out, and anything else I could think of. He said I couldn't say anything." Miles explained.

Fig kept one hand on Sunstreaker's steering wheel, taking a sip of his coffee before saying anything. "And you actually listened?"

"Well…" Miles began, pausing as he thought over whether to tell them or not. "I kind of did. I started using morse code on his dashboard. He didn't catch on for awhile, and I had almost finished ten-four when he figured it out. He started to snap at me but I pointed out I didn't technically say anything. He pointed out that he was a living being and not a car by waiting until I had gotten out and then making me chase him for a mile before he let me back inside."

"Please do not do that to me, Miles Lancaster." Prowl said, leading the way with his sirens off as it was still dark out and there wasn't much traffic. He had to speak louder than usual to be heard over the laughter of Miles' fellow humans.

Miles patted Prowl's dashboard, "Don't worry, I don't think you could take it."

Sunstreaker, Ironhide, and Sideswipe all laughed. Epps snorted, and Will and Fig just rolled their eyes. Prowl wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or offended. He decided to go with relieved, seeing as he could already imagine Miles tripping his glitch and off lining the Autobot.

They all stayed silent for awhile, except for Sunstreaker and Fig, who were talking in Spanish to each other. Miles yawned, "So, where exactly is the Allspark shard? I mean what kind of government building is it going to be in?"

"Actually, the shard is not in a building." Prowl began, getting ready to explain more thoroughly, only to be interrupted by Ironhide.

"It's with the scientist, Wheeljack, and Trailbreaker, who works as a defensive strategist. He can make force fields." Ironhide said quickly before Prowl could continue. "They're in an area of the Appalachian mountains. That's if Wheeljack hasn't managed to blow himself, the forest, and the shard up first."

Prowl made a sound like clearing his throat to make sure no one else would cut him off. "Optimus did not trust the shard in any human facility."

"Cool." Miles said.

All was silent for a moment before Prowl spoke up. "I do not understand, are you chilly?"

Sideswipe nearly swerved into Sunstreaker, quickly going off the road as his twin yelled at him to watch the paint. His entire frame was shaking with laughter. Epps and Fig weren't much better off.

"You have a lot to learn, young grass hopper." Miles laughed, patting Prowl's dashboard.

Prowl made an annoyed sound, "I am older than you, and I am not an insect of this planet."

Ironhide was barely heard through the radio as he muttered to himself, "Dear Primus, he won't survive on this planet."

Will chuckled, "Look up the definition of 'cool' on the internet, Prowl. Many phrases humans use have more than one meaning. Might as well search for 'young grass hopper' while you're at it."

"Affirmative." was all Prowl said for the next few hours, searching the internet to prepare himself for any other strange human customs.

After that Ironhide suggested that the humans get to sleep. They would be arriving at their destination in a few hours, and it would be best to be rested. Will, Epps, Fig, and Miles decided to listen. They were all woken up by Ironhide cussing loudly in Cybertronian. Will was up the quickest, demanding to know what was wrong. Epps simply groaned and sat up in Sideswipe, and Fig muttered a few choice words in Spanish towards the rude awakening. Miles took the longest to get up, having trouble going from having a thirty minute period of time to wake up to a minute period of time to wake up.

"There's a Decepticon up ahead. We can't get a hold of Wheeljack or Trailbeaker." Prowl explained. "All of you get out and unload the weapons from Ironhide. We will go up ahead."

The humans quickly scrambled out of the Autobots and unloaded Ironhide. They watched as the Autobots transformed, going to aid their comrades. Will gave Epps and Fig their weapons, handing Miles a baseball bat.

Miles took the bat, glaring at the older man. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Sorry, we couldn't get you any flowers. Besides, Ironhide said there was only one Decepticon. Let the big boys take care of the hard stuff." Will said, gently ruffling Miles' hair.

Miles groaned, but nodded. He knew better than to put up a fight over it since Will was more experienced and actually knew how to handle the weapons they had brought. The four quickly followed the path that the Autobots had taken, coming to a wide clearing. Off to the side they saw what they figured was an offlined Wheeljack with Trailbreaker, who was slowly losing the energy to sustain his force field. In the middle of the clearing they could see Ironhide, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe fighting a large Decepticon. They couldn't see Prowl anywhere. Slowly they moved closer until they could see the fight better.

"Oh Primus!" Miles exclaimed, holding his bat close to his chest. "I know I volunteered for this, but no one told me I'd be signing up for Japanese Tentacle Porn with giant alien robots!"


	10. Lancaster 1, Ravage 0 Oh wait, nvm

**AN: And yet another chapter! My sources tell me that Trailbreaker's force field abilities make him take up a lot of fuel, sooo that's why that's in there. Any good Autobot would keep it up even until they're about to offline, right? Small bit of a fight scene, so hey at least I tried and didn't just completely skip over it.**

_Writergurl616_: You win a cookie! It is Soundwave. And honestly, I bet it was Prowl. Thinking that a teenager would be less trouble, especially a civilian one who only had to sit there and listen. He'll come to regret that. **(said soundwave first, so they win a cookie)**

_Bookworm Gal_: Humans are just too illogical for Prowl. I bet the first few days he was constantly off lining.

_SiriusBlackFan2_: Nope, not Shockwave, but close guess! And thanks a bunch.

_The Result of Squffie:_ Soundwave has such a funny way of talking. I've only really read what he says though, never heard it in the animated series, etc. He doesn't talk any in this chapter, so no funny speech!

* * *

><p><em>The Allspark shard retrieval group: somewhere in Pennsylvania near the Appalachian Mountains.<em>

Sideswipe ran over to the group of humans, swords already out of subspace. He kept a close eye on the battle between Ironhide, Sunstreaker, and Soundwave, silently cursing to Primus. He adopted a defensive stance as he stood over the group of four, not even glancing at him. Will, Fig, and Epps were closely watching Soundwave, trying to see if there was any way they could help. Miles just stood there, bat at the ready as he waited for someone to order him on what to do.

"That's the Decepticons communications officer, Soundwave. He's the reason we couldn't get through to either Wheeljack or Trailbreaker, and also because he knocked Wheeljack offline." Sideswipe explained, tensed as he waited for anything to happen. "Prowl got here first, and we're pretty sure he was ganged up on by the Cassetticons. That's kitty, two birds, and earthquake. Prowl managed to destroy earthquake, though, so don't worry about losing your footing. We don't know where kitty and the birds went though. We moved Prowl off behind where Wheeljack and Trailbreaker are. We can't tell if he needs medical attention or not."

And with that he was gone, appearing next to his twin as they ganged up on Soundwave. Like he said Ravage, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw were no where in sight. They couldn't see Rumble's body, and had no interest in finding it. Will and Epps argued loudly over how to help the Autobots when Fig quickly smacked them both over the head, effectively shutting them up.

He pointed at the fight. "¡Vistazo! That's three Autobots against one Decpeticon. Usually those odds pretty much suck for the side with less, but does it look like Soundwave is about to get his aft handed to him? It's like he can read their moves!"

Both men returned their attention to the battle. "You're right." Will said, sounding a bit reluctant. "If we try to help we may just make it harder on them instead of help… If Soundwave can read them I think he could read us."

Will and Epps stood next to each other, examining the battle closely. It almost looked like some kind of weird dance, with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker darting in and around Soundwave to attack while Ironhide circled, dodged, and shot. Soundwave, unbeknownst to the humans, was able to read their minds, and therefore their attacks and movements. It helped him out a lot in the fight, but he was mainly on the defensive, sneaking in attacks where the 'bots had a weakness.

The two turned towards Miles and Fig. Epps looked annoyed, "So what the fuck are we supposed to do? Just stand here like lawn ornaments?"

"Let's just think for a moment. At the least we can go over to the other 'bots, right?" Fig said, looking at Will and Epps. His eyes widened as he saw Buzzsaw diving towards the Captain.

"WILL DUCK!" Miles yelled, swinging his bat as hard as he could. When it came into contact with the metallic hide of the 'con the resounding smack could be heard loud and clear. He could hardly believe it as Buzzsaw shrieked and flew up, the bat falling from his hands as he rubbed his stinging palms.

"Miles, get to Prowl and the others!" Will shouted at him, years of military training kicking in as he aimed at Buzzsaw's wing, only to miss. Fig and Epps joined in as Laserbeak flew over.

Miles obeyed without question, grabbing the bat up again and quickly sprinting over to Wheeljack and Trailbreaker. He had forgotten all about the force field until he ran into it, stumbling back. He rubbed his nose with a hand, reaching out and poking the force field. He was about to yell at that Autobot who made it when Trailbreaker's hand came toward him, holding a clear see through container. Inside was the Allspark shard.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Miles exclaimed, diving to catch the container as Trailbreaker dropped it.

"I am sorry human, but I can not leave Wheeljack. To be truthful, I would be unable to protect the shard well, most of my energy has been used. Go to Prowl, he should online soon." Trailbreaker said softly, sounding regretful.

Miles looked ready to argue but turned when he could hear Ironhide yelling at him. He turned just in time to see one of Soundwave's tentacles reaching for him, only to be blasted with Ironhide's cannon. Even while that was going on Soundwave used the distraction to attack Sideswipe. Sideswipe went down hard, his twin instantly covering him. The humans were having a bit more luck. They had managed to take out one of Laserbeak's wings, leaving him to attack from on the ground. Fig faced him, firing as Will and Epps continued to shoot at Buzzsaw.

Miles ran over to Prowl, clambering onto his chest and looking him over. He opened his mouth to call Prowl's name, but froze when he heard movement in a tree. He shoved the Allspark shard container in his pants, holding the bat as if he was about to swing at a baseball. Glancing back at the others he could guess the 'con that he would be facing. He slipped of Prowl, tightening his grip on the bat. If he could knock one of the birds hard enough to send it away in pain for a moment, he figured he could fend off a cat. When Ravage jumped out of the tree and landed in front of him, all confidence fled. He had imagined something like a house cat since Sideswipe had said "kitty". The robotic panther in front of him was a huge and unwelcome surprise.

"Kitty my ass!" he growled.

He quickly turn around and ran as Ravage chased him. He turned to look behind him and stumbled, realizing his mistake as Ravage leaped at him. He yelped as he felt the mech start to claw at his pants, realizing he was going for the shard. The cat had worked quickly, somehow managing to pull down Miles baggy pants to his knees. It helped that he was ripping large holes into them with his claws.

Miles had to push hard to get Ravage off him, quickly scrambling up and facing Ravage with the bat. He gripped the bat tight, holding a hitter's stance as the cat mech leaped at him again. He swung, the bat connecting hard to Ravage's face. He gave a victory cry as he watched the cat mech land on the ground ungracefully.

Hearing Prowl move behind him he turned around to look up at the mech with a cocky grin. "Lancaster-1, Kit-" And he really should have kept his mouth shut, or bothered to check that Ravage was in fact down. He had no warning besides Prowl venting sharply, and then he was crashing towards the ground on his side, the wind getting knocked out of him. He tried to get what he could back, but had very little time before he lost it again as the cat mech clawed at his back and arm.

He felt Ravage's weight suddenly disappear, but he didn't think anything of it as he hissed in pain, taking deep breaths. He tensed when he heard movement again, but relaxed when he saw Prowl leaning over him from the corner of his eye. He groaned, "I don't think I'll ever act cocky again." Prowl ignored his comment and activated his holoform to look Miles over.

Meanwhile, Fig gave a victory whoop as they finally took down Buzzsaw. Epps kicked the body as an extra precaution, making sure the bird mech was down. They all jumped when they heard Ironhide cussing angrily in a mixture of languages. Soundwave was taking off into the air, quickly accelerating high into the sky. Cybertronian, English, Japanese, Spanish, French, and several that sounded as if they came from other planets left his mouth as he shot at Soundwave with his cannon.

Sunstreaker was helping Sideswipe up, letting his brother lean on him as they made their way over to Trailbreaker and Wheeljack. Ironhide followed soon after, and the humans tailed him. Trailbreaker let the force field down completely as he finally relaxed, quickly falling into recharge after saying a few short sentences to his fellow 'bots in Cybertronian.

* * *

><p><em>At the Nevada base<em>

Bumblebee was relaxing out in the sun, enjoying the warmth. For all the world it looked like he was merely sunbathing and relaxing outside of the hangar Barricade normally stayed in. Sam walked over to his Guardian, placing a hand on the hood. He was about to ask why he was there when he heard an enraged scream. He jumped, and reached for the door handle out of instinct, figuring the safest place was inside Bumblebee.

At that point Barricade stormed out of his hangar, his metal frame now a very bright pink. Sam let his mouth drop open in shock as he stared at the 'con for a moment. As amusement filled him he quickly covered his mouth with a hand, not wanting the already enraged mech to get angry at him for laughing.

"Slagging Autobot!" Barricade growled, glaring at Bumblebee as he sat innocently in his alt form. "You will pay."


	11. Over and out

**AN: Another chapter, woo! This ones longer than most of the others. I used an online translator for the morse code. **http: .it /lab **minus the spaces. **

**And okay, I know people do actually read these, cuz I'll occasionally check the story stats. I want at least five reviews before I post the next chapter! five! That shouldn't be too difficult. By the way, could someone explain to me the difference between hits and visitors on that?**

_Bookworm Gal:_ Yes, Barricade is now pink! Or, was. Not by the end of this, anyway. Thanks, I figured the civilian fighting would be a bit easier to write since I was inexperienced. Miles will have to learn not to be so cocky in the heat of battle, though.

* * *

><p><em>The Allspark shard retrieval group<em>

After the fight the Autobots had gone about attending to any and all wounds on each other. Will worked on Miles while he was sitting in the back of Ironhide's alt form, complaining that he now needed a new pair of pants. Epps offered to buy him the new pair after they got to Jazz and resurrected him in Oklahoma. Miles was surprised by the nice offer, and accepted it. He didn't know about the bet that Will, Sam, and Epps had made over his and Barricade's fight, or that the money Epps would be using on his new pants was the money from the winnings of said bet.

Once what they could take care of had been taking care of, the group set off towards Oklahoma, with a newly welcomed Wheeljack and Trailbreaker. None of the mechs had that much medical experience, and could only do the basics. They planned on having First Aid work on them once they met up. Once again they abused Prowl's alt form, using the sirens to make quick time in crowded cities or highways. Most of the humans slept on the way to the state, tired from the adrenaline crashes they were experiencing. Out of all of them Miles was the most unused to having his adrenaline suddenly spike up so high to keep him going, and he slept the entire trip away. He still had the shard with him. The others woke up around the same time, about two to three hours away from where they were supposed to meet First Aid and Inferno. They'd have Jazz with them.

When they arrived at the building where the two living Autobots and the dead Autobots' body were, they had all gone inside. There had been very brief introductions, and then the 'bots had left the humans alone with Jazz's body. Ironhide, Prowl, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe hadn't gotten a decent recharge in in almost three days. Light rechargers while the humans were busy doing human things, but all of them were still tired, and agreed that resurrecting Jazz could wait until tomorrow. Not even Prowl complained that they'd most likely miss the four day mark of the mission that way.

The fact that the four had been so tired had probably been why one of them had slipped up, had a lapse in judgment, that none of the others called the mech on. It couldn't be blamed on First Aid and Inferno because that hadn't gotten to know how humans could be just yet, hadn't had any living with them for such a long period of time. Maybe it was because they had forgotten that Miles still had the shard, or it really was they were just too tired to really go any deeper than basic processor thinking. Either way, when Will had asked what they were supposed to do with Jazz if all the 'bots were leaving them, Sunstreaker had sarcastically replied that they use the shard on him to bring him back.

And maybe it was a testament to just how stupid humans could be sometimes, because they had decided to take him seriously. And so they ended up sending Fig out to get four sticks, and when he brought them back they evened them out and then broke one in half. All the humans were still a bit tired, especially those that were used to having a pick me up when they reached a certain point. This mainly related to Epps though, since Will hadn't reached that point yet. So they agreed that whoever got the shorter end of the stick had to do it.

Epps cursed loudly as he looked at his tiny stick, then glared at the three who had the bigger ones. "Seriously? Fuck fate." He grabbed the container that held the shard from Miles, popped it open and clasped the shard in a hand, starting to climb up on to Jazz.

"Sorry, Epps!" Miles said, not sounding sorry at all as he grinned. "Let's just pray that it doesn't do anything freaky to you."

"W-what?" Epps froze, mind coming to a screeching halt as the thought hit him fully. Oh Primus, what if it did do something to him? What if it made him into some weird cyborg, or joined his soul and Jazz's and they lived on in his body together, or in Jazz's body together? What if it sent it's energy into him and he became like the Cybertronian birthing unit, or if it changed him into a Cybertronian completely? Would it make him into one like the mountain dew dispensor in Mission City, would he be himself anymore? _What if it killed him?_

"Epps?" Will called, seeing his friend frozen while still in the process of climbing Jazz. "Epps, earth to Epps? Jesus, Miles, I think you broke him!" He didn't notice Epps move after he said Jesus.

"You mean Primus." Epps muttered sarcastically. "And it's nothing. If I don't make it tell everyone I love them. Including Barricade and Mojo."

Will and Fig shared bewildered glances, but Miles grinned as he slowly realized what had freaked Epps out. Oh, this will be good, he thought.

Epps finally made it up onto the chest of Jazz. "So what the fuck do I do?" He asked, the irrational fear of something happening to him sneaking up and settling at the bottom of his stomach like a heavy weight.

"Uhm… Try putting it in the Spark chamber?" Will suggested, muttering the next part under his breath. "Since that's where the spark goes and makes them live and all."

Epps couldn't hear what he muttered, but he shot a glare Will's way because he could just guess he wouldn't have appreciated it. He knelt down, and frowned when it felt like his hand had a magnetic pull, as if something else was controlling it. He averted his eyes as his hand traveled into the spark chamber, connecting with something. And then their was nothing but a bright light, so bright it blinded him, and the irrational fear grew and threatened to claw its way up his throat and out of his mouth. But just as quickly as it had come the light faded away. And just as quickly as the light had come he felt a sudden shifting underneath him, and then a weapon was pointing directly in his face.

"Aw, come on." He couldn't help but whine. "Ironhide's supposed to be the trigger happy one!"

Jazz faltered, deactivating his weapon as he looked around. Battle protocols had been some of the first to come online, and he had felt something near his open spark chamber and reacted. Glancing at the human, his slowly accessed his memory files. The last thing he remembered is arguing with Optimus under the bridge after Bumblebee had been taken away by the Sector Seven people. He didn't see anyone he could recognize, but the colored human had said Ironhide's name.

"We should probably call one of the 'bots in." Will said softly, not wanting to startle Jazz. "First Aid, maybe."

The newly reactivated Autobot sat up without thinking, knocking Epps off his chest. Epps cursed as he went flying, surprised when he landed in Jazz's hand. He grinned, looking up at Jazz. "I'm Robert Epps, but you can call me Epps. The other guy who just spoke is Will Lennox, or Will. Then there's Fig and Miles, Miles being the teenager." He patted Jazz's thumb as he talked.

"Where am Ah?" Jazz asked. "When did First Aid get here?"

"We can't tell you when he got here since we don't know. But the rest of the 'bots are in another room. We had a run in with Soundwave while retrieving the Allspark shard from Wheeljack and Trailbreaker." Epps explained.

Then Will took up the spot, filling in Jazz with more detail of what had happened. He went all the way back to Mission city, including how Jazz had been torn in half, and after that. How Miles had found Barricade and the 'con had decided to become slightly neutral, at least enough not to be directly hostile to the Autobots. Then he went over the battle with Soundwave in more detail. In return, Jazz mentioned that Soundwave could read minds. While Will filled Jazz in on everything he could, Fig went and got the other Autobots. Epps and Miles waved to them as they filed in, surprised by the odd looks on their face plates.

"We are happy that Jazz is back, but what in the world gave you idea to do it on your own?" Prowl asked, looking at the humans. "The consequences of Allspark contact are unknown on you."

"Sunstreaker told us too." Epps said, shrugging.

All of the 'bots looked at Sunstreaker, though the mech himself only looked a mixture of annoyed and surprised. "And you listened to me? Humans really are dumb!"

"Well Ah thank you for doing so. It's good to be back." Jazz said, putting Epps back down on the ground.

"As do we. But now I suggest the humans go do whatever they want to, sleep preferably, while we talk." Prowl said, Ironhide helping him in gently moving the four out of the room even as they complained.

"We might as well listen." Will sighed, watching the door be shut. "Don't really have any other options. We don't know how far the next town is and we don't have a car, sentient or non."

The other three sighed, but decided to listen. They all found places to sleep, Epps falling asleep almost immediately. Miles grinned to the others when he saw this, whispering to them. The three quietly planned, Will protesting for awhile until Miles threatened to do something to him if he didn't go along with it.

* * *

><p>Epps woke up slowly to a light headache. He couldn't tell what time it was, but from the way the birds were creating a ruckus outside he decided to keep his eyes closed just a little longer. He heard the muffled sounds of movement, and metal on concrete as it neared him. He heard them pause directly beside where he was laying, wondering what the hell was going on.<p>

"He's… different, a'ight." Jazz spoke softly. "Do humans usually do this?"

Will spoke up, voice sounding oddly strained. "N-no… We never change like that…"

Epps felt his heart drop into his stomach, that irrational fear that the Allspark shard would do something to him creeping back up.

"Do you think it's because of what he did for me? Ah'd hate that…" Jazz said, trailing off.

"Estimado Dios…" Fig muttered. "Will, we should… Should go tell his family…"

"Y-yeah." Will replied, and Epps could hear them walk towards the door. Heard it open and then close. It felt like his body had seized up with panic, not wanting to open his eyes or alert them that he was awake so that he wouldn't have to face reality.

"Slag, he's so different." Jazz said softly. "Ah don't think Ratchet would be able to do anything for 'im."

"How's he going to react?" Miles asked. "He'll be devastated."

And at that it finally seemed like Epps could move as his eyes snapped open and he looked at the ceiling. "Oh God! Oh Primus! I'm… I'm…" He sounded near hysterics as he brought his hand up to his face. "I'm…Black?" Here he sounded bewildered, looking to his side.

He saw Will and Fig beside the door, hands over their mouths as their body shook with laughter. He saw Miles trying hard not to laugh himself, and Jazz with a mischievous glint in his optics. He slowly realized that he had been played, Will's voice having sounded strained because he was trying so hard not to laugh.

"Seriously? Fuck you guys. I hate all of you." Epps groaned, sitting up and glaring at all of them. This just caused the humans to break down into laughter.

"Sorry, mah man. The young one can be very convincing." Jazz said, not sounding apologetic at all.

He glared at Miles, who was trying to stop laughing. "This means war. And Jazz is on my team from now on. You already have Fig and Will apparently, the slaggin' traitors."

Miles smirked, and the three humans started to tease him over how easily he had been duped. Jazz just shook his head, amused by their antics. _It's definitely good to be alive_, he thought.

* * *

><p>A day later they were almost back to the Nevada base. There was only a few hours to go, and they were planning those without any stops. The humans had just been fed and allowed to use the restroom. Epps had switched from riding in Sideswipe to riding in Jazz. Neither of the 'bots minded, Jazz liking Epps just a bit more than the other humans because Epps was the one to bring him back, and he introduced Jazz to some good Earth music.<p>

Unbeknownst to Prowl, Jazz had dared Miles to annoy the strict 'bot as much as he could. So far it had been going perfectly with asking unending questions, gum, drinks, and other things. Prowl was about on his last nerve concerning the human, and Jazz couldn't wait to see what he would do when it broke.

Epps and Miles were the only humans awake. Originally it had been because when they crossed into Nevada they both wanted to annoy all the 'bots until they honk, but now just neither of them could. Miles' back still felt sore and a bit raw from the run in with Ravage, and there wasn't much room to actually lay down in Prowl, much less lay down on his stomach. Epps just couldn't sleep. They were both surprised when Prowl said he was contacting the Autobot base.

"Prowl to base. Base come in." Prowl said.

"This is base. Barricade here, with the insect and Prime." They heard Barricade reply, not knowing that Optimus had left control of the radio to those two, and that they did rock paper scissors to see who could have it. Bumblebee lost.

Miles quickly spoke up before Prowl could say anything else, "Barry! I'm never cheating on you with another Cybertronian who has a cop car alt mode again! Prowl won't let me do anything! He's banned me from asking questions, answering questions, drinking anything, and even chewing gum! He's no fun at all!"

"You dropped the gum on my floor." Prowl replied calmly, having expected Miles out burst.

"I sneezed! It's a natural human thing!" Miles fought back.

"You squirted the liquid all over my dashboard." Prowl was trying desperately to keep his voice calm and devoid of annoyance.

"That was all Epps fault!" Miles exclaimed. "He's the one that mentioned sixty-nining with Jazz! Just to get me to do it, I tell you! It's a conspiracy!"

Prowl let out an annoyed sound, "No talking from now until we get to the base, Miles Lancaster. Since you are a minor we count as your guardians, and society claims that you must abide by their rules."

"What? You can't ground me!" Miles huffed, and Epps could be heard laughing his ass off in the back ground.

"You dropped gum in me, sprayed liquid all over my dashboard, fought with me to get me to honk once we crossed the Nevada state line and then attempted to honk me yourself, kept trying to use the sunglasses and hair dryer whenever we stopped to scare people, and there have been many other offenses. You even managed to trip my glitch, and we were lucky I wasn't driving. I believe I have every right to ground you, and I may even throw you in the brig when we get back. You are almost as annoying as the twins." Prowl explained, annoyance clear in his voice.

Miles was silent for a moment, and then he grinned. "Are there any rules that I broke in that rule book thing?"

"…No." Prowl said reluctantly. "But you are still on silent time unless you wish for me to let Ironhide practice his aim on you."

Miles groaned, while Jazz and Epps laughed. While Prowl began filling in Barricade, Optimus, and Bumblebee on what had happened, Miles started to tap out morse code on his dashboard, hoping that Barricade would recognize it and be able to catch it.

* * *

><p><em>At the Nevada base<em>

The three Cybertronians listened in silence as Miles and Prowl fought back and fourth. Optimus and Bumblebee where shocked, while Barricade just smirked inwardly. He was no longer pink, since Optimus had told Bumblebee to clean off all the paint. If he was the one who painted him, he could be the one to scrape it off. Bumblbee had begrudingly listened.

"Figures one of you stupid 'bots couldn't put up with what I can put up with on a daily basis." He said smugly.

Neither Optimus or Bumblebee bothered to reply to him. They listened as Prowl filled them in on all that had happened in the mission. They could hear an odd tapping sound in the background as he talked, but didn't pay any attention to it. They found out about Soundwave and the cassetticons attacking, of who got hurt and how badly, how Jazz was brought back by Epps.

"Jazz is do-" They heard Prowl start to say, then cut himself off. "Would you stop that infernal tapping?" They heard him growl soon after.

"Sorry." They heard Miles reply a second later, and the tapping stopped.

"As I was saying, Jazz is doing fine. That is all for now, Prowl out." Prowl continued hastily, then closed the connection quickly.

Barricade laughed as he realized why Miles had been tapping, and replayed the conversation from his memory file to figure out what he had said.

.. .-. - / ... - .-. .-. -.- .-.-.- / - ...- . .-. / .- -. -.. / - ..- - .-.-.-

_I'm sorry. Over and out._


	12. Mason the Mastiff

**AN: Near the end the two incidents mentioned (about the list and Wheeljack's lab) are stories I have seperate from this one. You can find them by just going to my profile page, of course. "Left to their own devices" is Sam and Miles with an Offlined Wheeljack. "A list made by Sam and Epps" is a 'you know you're spending too much time with the cybertronians when:' kinda thing. You don't have to read them to stick with this story, but it will add to it.**

**I have the next chapter all ready to upload IF I get one more review. I have the other four, I want one more. I know a lot more than five people read this**

_Bookworm Gal:_ Thanks!  
><em><span>cascadenight:<span>_ I'm glad you like this story. I hope you continue to enjoy it, and thanks for the review!  
><em><span>writergurl616:<span>_ I have to agree, I don't think Prowl will be going anywhere near Miles willingly, or at least on his own.  
><em><span>Noella50881:<span>_ Glad you enjoy Miles bugging Prowl! Thanks for the review.  
><em><span>Autobot Firekat:<span>_ I think a lot of humans would make Prowl's glitch activate. We're just too "illogical" for him.  
><em><span>LionLover190:<span>_ Here's your update! Glad you enjoy it and thanks for the review!

**And I bring in Mason! Mason is Miles' Mastiff, if you don't remember him from the '07 movie. **

* * *

><p>The mission group had arrived back already, but the debriefing hadn't happened yet. Instead the first few hours of the morning where spent making sure everyone was fed, washed, and as healthy as Ratchet would like. He spent the most time on Jazz and Miles respectively, Miles being the only human to be noticeably hurt, and Jazz having just come back from the dead. They decided to hold the debriefing in Will's office, this meaning the Cybertronians had to use their holoforms. Optimus Prime, Barricade, and Bumblebee were already in there, along with Sam. Mikaela had already gone home to help her father with the car shop.<p>

Jazz and Epps walked in together, Jazz having based his holoform off of Epps. The skin tone was exactly the same, and the hair was dark brown, but besides that Jazz was taller and had his own looks to him. Miles followed soon after with Fig and Will, and behind them came the holoforms of Prowl and Ironhide. First Aid, Inferno, Wheeljack, and Trailbreaker had been allowed to skip the debriefing, and Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had been dismissed to show the four new 'bots around. Optimus sat behind Will's desk for the moment, and those from the mission all stood in front of it.

"It is good to see you back, old friend." Optimus said, addressing Jazz. "I do have to commend you on your choice of holoform, it will help us blend in more if we diversify our looks."

Jazz grinned, "Glad ta be back, Optimus."

Optimus let his holoform's gaze sweep across the seven in front of him, before landing on Miles. "I've heard that you had quiet the time. I am unsure whether to question why you took on Ravage on your own, or if I should be weary of the answer. So instead, how is your prognosis?"

"Just fine, Optimus." Miles said, grinning. "And that was kind of a miscalculation on my part. I forgot that just because Sideswipe said kitty did not mean I would see Ravage the same way. Honestly, I was more afraid of tentacle pron."

"Tentacle pron?" Optimus asked, raising an optic ridge.

"Do not look that up under any circumstances, Prime." Prowl said dryly, standing straight at attention. "It is a rather odd idea from the humans and picturing the Decepticon Communications Officer Soundwave doing such things is… unpleasant, to say the least."

"Not my fault you took it upon yourself to imagine it right after you looked it up." Miles huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Optimus tried not to look as amused as he felt. "I see you two have been…" He paused as he considered his word choice. "Getting along well."

"I fully commend Decepticon Neutral Barricade on how long he has put up with Civilian Miles Lancaster. I thought all Decepticons were programmed to kill anything they found annoying, and yet Civilian Miles Lancaster still lives." Prowl replied, eyes narrowed as he glanced back at Barricade.

"Hey!" Miles cried indignantly. "Are you calling me annoying?"

"So he still hasn't figured out that Jazz put you up to it yet?" Will asked, letting it slip before he could stop himself.

The room went silent for a moment as Prowl turned and looked to Jazz, who was doing his best to look innocent. The look on Prowl's face was an odd one; a mix between anger, confusion, and why me. Miles was the one to break the silence, surprisingly, as he looked between Prowl and Optimus with a slightly nervous gaze.

"He's technically my superior officer so that means I was just following orders. I can't be put in the brig for that, can I?" Miles hesitantly asked, causing Epps to start laughing.

Optimus let his face mask drop down to hide his amusement. "I believe Prowl might have to work on a rule book that covers Cybertronians and humans working together, but no, you won't be put in the brig."

"Alright!" Miles grinned, going and leaning against the wall near Barricade, Sam, and Bumblebee.

"We will have a talk later in my office, Jazz." Prowl said, seeming to ignore Miles and his Prime.

"Aw, Prowler, Ah was jus' havin' some fun." Jazz said, a smirk coming onto his face as he got ready to play his trump card. "Comin' back from the dead an' all, Ah jus' wante' a sense of… normalcy."

Most of the anger had visibly left Prowl at that, he kept his glare at Jazz for a moment before turning back to Optimus. He ignored Epps, who was snickering, and the fact that his Prime was hiding his beyond obvious amusement.

"When I do write that rule book Miles has helped me think of many things to add to it." Prowl said, not even looking at Miles. "No pretending to have a speed radar to scare humans into behaving the law, no gum, no sending a Cybertronian to search for something that will cause any glitch they have to kick in, and no 9,001 cubes of energon on the wall."

Sam smirked, "Why 9,001?" He knew exactly why, of course, but that didn't mean he couldn't get enjoyment out of asking.

Epps, Will, Miles, Jazz, and even Bumblebee ended up saying "Because it's over 9,000!" at the same time. Sam broke into laughter, while Ironhide and Fig just shook their heads in amusement. Barricade rolled his eyes and Optimus smiled behind his facemask. Prowl merely looked confused.

If nothing else, he was happy to see that his 'bots had been taking to the human culture, and even enjoying some of it as well as getting along with Earth's most dominant species. He would be sad to see the day when their current human allies had to pass, and generally tended to push the thought out of his processors. He knew how close some of his 'bots were getting to them, especially Bumblebee and Ironhide. He'd hate to see their reaction when they died.

He coughed, drawing everyone's attention to him again. "If you would begin the debriefing, Prowl. I'm sure most of us would like to be somewhere else."

"You got that right!" Epps said, stretching his arms above his head. "Miles and me stayed up the whole last day just to drive Prowl bonkers. I'm getting too old for that without my blood mainly consisting of coffee."

Prowl pointedly decided to ignore that remark, and started to talk. He went over which human had been in which Autobot, where they stopped, what time they stopped, and what they stopped for. Any purchases that the humans made and actually brought into the Autobots were mentioned. How they had abused his alt mode most of the way to get their faster, but still ending up a day late. The battle with Soundwave and the cassetticons, how he took out Rumble but was offlined by the rest of the mini 'cons. That Fig, Will, and Epps deactivated Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, and that Miles had gone after Ravage and had eventually worked with Prowl to deactivate the animalistic mech. He went over any wounds that had occurred, and how long it took them to get to Oklahoma. He included that Epps was the one to put the Allspark shard in Jazz's spark chamber, and that First Aid had looked over the 'bots and humans a bit. Then he included the ride home.

By the time he was done about an hour had past, he was nothing if not thorough. Epps had begun shifting from foot to foot, discreetly taking out his phone and occasionally texting Will. Will did his best to ignore Epps until the Sergeant started to kick him in the shin to get him to reply. Fig pulled out a paper back from his pants, though no one could figure out how he had managed to stuff it in there. Ironhide and Jazz just let most of their consciousness return to their real bodies, accessing the internet, cleaning weapons, and talking to people outside of the office. Barricade and Optimus just staid still and listened, though both wandered off in their own thoughts. Miles had fallen asleep standing up, and Bumblebee and Sam were currently throwing pieces of paper at each other.

It took everyone a moment to realize that Prowl had finished, well those still alert, anyway. Jazz and Ironhide snapped back to their holoforms, Will and Epps put their phones away, Fig stuffed the book back in his pants pocket, and Sam and Bumblebee brushed little pieces of paper off themselves. Sam didn't notice that Miles had fallen asleep until Barricade had nudged him, and gestured to their mutual friend.

"Thank you, Prowl. You, Sam, Bumblebee, Barricade, and Miles may go." Optimus said, effectively dismissing them before he turned his attention to the others in his office. He told Epps, Will, and Fig he expected a report from each of them, and the same to Ironhide and Jazz.

Sam got up with a grin on his face, going over to Miles and pushing him into Barricade. "Here, you can have him."

This naturally startled Miles into waking up, panicking as he stumbled and started to fall. He began to wish he hadn't fallen asleep around Sam just as Barricade stepped out and grabbed him. It took him a moment to realize what had happened, his mind still dusting away the cobwebs of sleep.

"Barry!" Miles exclaimed, grinning up at the holoform's face. "I heard you were a good boy while I was gone. I'm very proud of you."

Barricade scoffed, glaring at Miles as he let go of the teenager. "It's amazing how quickly you make me wish I had dropped you."

Sam snickered while Miles put on a pout. "Aww, Barry, you know you missed me!"

"Think again, fleshling." Barricade growled, leaving the room.

"He missed me." Miles told Sam, smirking at his friend.

"I'm just happy you haven't been killed yet." Sam replied, throwing his arm around Miles' shoulders. "We need to keep you away from Cybertronians with cop car alt modes, my friend." He steered his friend out of Will's office, Bumblebee following behind them.

"I have to agree with Samual on this one, Miles. I am pleasantly surprised that Barricade has restrained from deactivating you." Bumblebee teased, smirking slightly.

Miles huffed, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you two. Soon as someone does kill me for being obnoxiously annoying you'll both be sorry!"

Bumblebee and Sam laughed, the three meeting up with Barricade near the humans dining facilities so that Sam could grab lunch, before heading to the barracks so Miles could get some sleep.

* * *

><p>Miles had gone back to school and caught up with anything he had missed while on the mission. Halloween was drawing closer and closer, and Sam, Miles, and Mikaela were spending as much time at the NEST base as they could. During this time there was only two significant things to happen; these being the list that Sam and Epps started, and the incident in Wheeljack's lab. After Sam and Miles had been trapped in the wreckage of Wheeljack's lab they were now banned from going anywhere near it, much to their chagrin.<p>

Miles was currently at the lake with his dog, Mason. Not many people were there on an early Saturday morning, and he had walked, Barricade still made to stay at the NEST base. Both human and dog were soaking wet as Miles tossed another stick for Mason to fetch into the lake. Both the boy and the dog were surprised when a cop car pulled up, and Mason ran right past Miles to sniff at it.

"Barry?" Miles asked, confusion evident in his voice as he walked towards the Cybertronian and his dog. "I thought they were still keeping you on a short leash?"

"Captain Lennox has something he wishes to talk to you and Ladiesman217 about. Hop in, we're going straight there." Barricade replied, inching away from the Mastiff.

"Mason has to come too, then." Miles said, putting a hand on Barricade's hood. "Knowing how NEST is I won't make it back till late Sunday evening, if I make it into school on Monday, and the 'rents are gone for the weekend. I swear I've never missed school so much in my life."

"That… thing is not getting inside of me. It is wet and muddy, and has claws." Barricade growled, revving his engine and scaring Mason enough to back up towards Miles.

Miles put his hands on his hips, deciding to ignore the fact that he probably looked ridiculous glaring at a cop car. "He is coming or I'm not, and that's that."

Barricade snarled, contemplating just leaving before deciding against it. "If he does anything inside of me it will be you I do things to as I see fit."

"Fine, fine. Whatever you say." Miles said, coaxing Mason closer to the car and inside of the back.

Miles would come to regret not taking Mason home, or at least seeing if Judy and Ron Witwicky could look over the Mastiff. He thought it was bad when Mason had left prints all over the backseat due to the mud on his paws, even leaving them on the window at one point, but Barricade just ignored it. He cringed when Mason did a full body shake, spraying water over most of the things in the vehicle, but still Barricade endured.

It wasn't until he had started to notice the "potty behavior", as his parents deemed it, that he began to get really worried. The drive to the NEST base was about two hours if it was a normal car or the Cybertronian was obeying the laws, and Barricade seemed to be all set for mostly obeying them on this particular day. He supposed it was because this was the first time Barricade had been let off the base, but either way he wished that it hadn't been so. They were almost to the NEST base when Miles knew Mason couldn't hold it anymore, and he desperately tried to get the Decepticon neutral to pull over. Barricade had refused, believing that the animal could hold it for just a few minutes more.

They had just pulled in to base when it happened, and Barricade immediately screeched to a halt as Miles groaned, sinking down in his seat. "No, Mason, no!" He cried, turning to glare at his dog, who just wagged his tail in return.

Sam and Bumblebee, who was in his bipedal form, walked over to Barricade, wondering why he had stopped so suddenly. Sam walked over to the passenger side where Miles was, tapping on the window. When it rolled down he peered inside, noticing Mason in the back and what looked like a huge wet spot. He took in Miles' paler than normal face and made the connection instantly. He opened the back door and let the Mastiff out.

Miles tried to unbuckle his seat belt, but found it stuck fast. "Barry, can you uh, unbuckle me?" He asked softly, not receiving a reply. "Barricade…?"

"No, Miles. You are not going anywhere." Barricade snarled, his engine roaring back to life as the back door slammed shut. His entire frame was shaking slightly from anger.

Miles looked at Sam with wide eyes, clawing at the seat belt. He stopped when he felt it tighten around him, pressing him firmly against the seat.

Sam smirked as he leaned in the window towards Miles, "Don't worry, Fleshling. I won't punish you… _too hard_." He drawled in a low, husky tone. He was repeating a line that Miles himself had said once when they were stuck in Wheeljack's lab and had decided to have fun with innuendos.

"Oh God, I seriously, seriously hate you, Sam!" Miles squeeked, eyes widening as he became torn between slight amusement and horror over what was bound to happen to him.

"Try to bring a piece of him back for his parents, Barricade." Sam said, laughing as he patted the side of Barricade's alt form and backed away.

He watched as the window was rolled up quickly, effectively stopping him from hearing whatever Miles was trying to say. He waved as the Decepticon quickly backed out, and tore out of the NEST base. He turned around, going over to Bumblebee and Mason.

Bumblebee watched as Barricade left with Miles, slowly playing the Funeral March as he looked back down at Sam.

"Yeah, Bee, he's a goner." Sam replied, trying not to laugh as he bent down and petted Mason.


	13. Operation Halloween is a go

**AN: Pretty boring chapter, but oh well. I want five more reviews before I upload the next chapter. I didn't get my five reviews, but whatever. We can try for five this time.**

**Sidenote: I started to watch TFA. I don't think I'll really include any of it, though Bee will be a youngling and blah**

_Bookworm Gal:_ Barricade. How would you feel if something lubricated inside of you? Thanks for the review!  
><em><span>Fk306 animelover:<span>_ Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy it. :)  
><em><span>Autobot Firekat:<span>_ I am of the serious opinion that Prowl and illogical humans will never mix, and he'll end up in the med bay so much he'll have his own private berth.  
><em><span>LionLover190:<span>_ Glad you like it! And of course there has to be innuendos! There's still technically teenagers in this. :P And not just yet! That wouldn't be very deceptive of a Decepticon, turned neutral or not.

**EDIT1: I reposted ch.12 by accident instead of ch.13. SORRY and thanks to those who pointed it out! HERE'S the NEW chapter! :)  
>EDIT2: Hahaha I need a beta or to actually bother reading through these completely. Sorry for any mistakes you might find.<strong>

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><p>Prowl watched the whole scene as Barricade returned to the NEST base with Civilian Miles Lancaster, standing in his Prime's second office as the two looked out of the window. Naturally his real office would never have a window, for security issues. He was surprised when an animal, a dog like Mojo, had gotten out of the Decepticon Neutral once the back door had opened. This one was fairly bigger than the tiny Chihuahua, and a quick search on the internet informed him the breed was referred to as a Mastiff. He watched with some amusement as Miles tried to escape from Barricade, only to be kept inside as the 'con turned around and left the way it had came.<p>

"I am still amazed by how quickly we have adapted to a 'con in our midst." Prowl said softly. "Neutral or not."

"I believe that is in part do to Miles. He felt strongly over Barricade's fate even the day he was brought here. A human who would put unflinching trust in a Cybertronian tends to mean that the Cybertronian has deserved it, for whatever reason." Optimus Prime replied.

"And the other part?" Prowl asked, watching as Sam and Bumblebee stayed at that spot, Sam playing with the Mastiff.

"This war has been going on far too long." Optimus stated. "Both sides are getting low on mechs and femmes. Keep a watchful eye on the new comer, certainly, by why act rude if they give you no cause? Bumblebee has come to have a sort of friendship with him, brought on from Sam's interaction with him, which was caused by Miles. Barricade's decision to become Neutral, while it still may have happened, was greatly influenced by Miles, as well as his tolerance of us."

Prowl thought of that before he decided on how to best say what he wanted. "To sum it up the organics on this planet are more than meets the eye?" He asked, an unusual layer of amusement peppering his normally monotone voice.

Optimus chuckled, "That they are. They are similar to us in many ways. Emotions, some motivations. We are much bigger and tend to contain a lot more metal, while they are fragile and have skin that can be broken by paper, but our general frames are the same. A head, two arms, two hands, two legs, things to stand on. We occasionally come with wings, but humans invent that stuff on their own. They have a shockingly short lifespan, but get a lot done in the time given to them. They adapt quickly."

Prowl nodded, losing himself to a thought process as his Prime went silent. He had been told of how readily Civilians Mikaela Banes and Samual Witwicky had adjusted to the whole thing. How Sam had stepped up in Mission City and excepted the Allspark cube from an injured Bumblebee; then ran from Megatron with it only to use it to offline the significantly larger being. From what he had heard Civilian Miles Lancaster had, supposedly, barely bat an eyelash when he found out that the Saleen Police Cruiser he had been working on was alive.

It seemed that all the humans that could be accepting of Cybertronians were set apart somehow, but for the life of him he couldn't figure a nice way to deem it besides what the humans deem insanity. He told his Prime as much.

"Ah, yes. Some would call them that. But I think all the 'bots under my care could have a few questionable… thought processes. Myself included, I suppose." Optimus replied, amusement evident in his tone. "The NEST members themselves, even the civilians on this base, I believe would take no offense to being called insane."

"Some of them may even take it as a compliment. Like Civilian Miles Lancaster and Sergeant Robert Epps." He said in agreement, turning his optics to focus back on to his leader.

"They'll get you to call them by their non-formal names, eventually, Prowl. Even Barricade refers to some of them that way. You may as well just give in before you become a target." Optimus said lightly, picking up a data pad to read it's contents.

"It's too late for that, I'm afraid." He stated dryly. "Jazz had them out for me since he was onlined."

"Young Samual believes that Miles enjoys tormenting Cybertronians with cop car alt modes, for some reason." Optimus replied, trying to hide his amusement by now. "Perhaps if you find out why it can be put to a stop. For you, anyway."

"Just give Miles to the rest of the Decepticons, and somehow make it so they couldn't kill him or get rid of him. They'll offline themselves." And in a rare moment, Prowl actually smiled and cracked a joke around his Prime, causing Optimus to laugh.

The two Autobots fell silent, Prowl continuing to look out the window. He watched as Sam found a stray stick, from where he wasn't sure, and played fetch with the dog. He took a minute to comm Bumblebee and find out what had happened between Barricade, the dog, and the human. When the Autobot scout answered him he let out a snort without meaning to. Glancing back at Optimus he found his leader's questioning gaze on him and decided to answer it.

"I asked Bumblebee and it appears as if the Mastiff, Mason according to Civilian Samual Witwicky, lubricated inside of Barricade, on his back seat. It is unknown where he has taken Miles or for what purpose." Prowl said, answering the unasked question.

Optimus vented slightly, the Cybertronian version of a sigh, though whether from annoyance or amusement Prowl couldn't tell. "I believe Samual would say he is doomed, then."

And Prowl could only nod in agreement.

* * *

><p>When Barricade and Miles had come back it was evident that Barricade was much more whipped then any of them had thought with how Miles had cheerfully gotten out of the Cybertronian and walked over to his dog and Sam. Then again, after they considered it was Miles that Barricade had been going up against, no one was too surprised when he came back in one piece. The Cybertronian himself seemed just a little grouchier than normal if the scowl that was permanently etched on the holoform's face was anything to go by.<p>

Most of NEST was outside for the night, it being fairly warm and dinner being held out in the open for once. Sam sat at a table with Will, Epps, Fig, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Jazz, and Prowl. They continued their conversations even as Miles went up to Sam. Mason was on the ground between Bumblebee and Will. The Cybertronians were in their holoforms to sit with their human counterparts, but their mech bodies weren't far away.

Miles grinned at Sam, "Back in one piece and mentally stable. I think that's a personal best, considering who I was going against."

"Well, as long as you didn't mention that Mason could have been marking Barricade as his territory and showing his dominance over him, I'm not surprised." Sam replied innocently, a smirk on his features.

The table fell in to a shocked silence at that as they watched Barricade's hands visibly twitch as if wanting to do something with them even in holoform, and the grin disappear off of Miles face. Will put a hand on Mason's collar to make sure the Mastiff stayed in one place, and Bumblebee kept a wary optic on Barricade.

"You were either a Decepticon in a past life, or I did something to deserve this." Miles stated softly. "Which is it?"

"The list." Sam replied, his smirk growing. "You mentioned having something for me for Halloween and I'm just getting my hits in while I still can if Mikaela's on your side."

Epps started to laugh, "If nothing else, the kid is smart. Might get his friend killed, but smart non the less!" And the rest of the table couldn't help but silently agree.

Miles turned around to face Barricade. "I know the potty signs, he wasn't just marking his territory. If he really wanted to show dominance he'd mount you or hump you."

Ironhide snorted, "That's supposed to make him feel better? I'd be pissed if someone let vermin lubricate inside of me, too!"

"Not helping, Hide!" Will hissed at his Guardian.

Miles glared at Ironhide for a brief moment before returning his attention to Barricade. The table watched as the two stayed silent, amused as they seemed to have a fight with facial expressions alone. Barricade glared, Miles looked apologetic and pulled puppy dog eyes pouty face. Miles ended up winning the facial expression stand off after giving a pointed look at the wash racks, making the beings at the table assume that he had offered to completely clean Barricade out, possibly more than once depending on how angry the mech was. Either way, Barricade backed down, returning to his usual scowl.

"Squishy organic on the outside, completely stupid on the inside." Epps said, grinning as Miles gave an indignant 'hey!' in response.

"So what's the big bad havin' ya do, Miles?" Jazz asked, an amused grin on his holoform's face.

"Oh, a few complete cleanings. Inside, outside. Waxing, untwisting or unkinking any wires that need it." Miles replied, pausing for a moment before he continued. "And I kind of promised to make sure he could get off base more, if not with me then with Sam and Bumblebee. One of you should tell OP that."

Everyone heard Prowl make a clearly audible sound, but none of them could quite figure out what it was. At the least, they could all assume it stood for annoyance.

"You can not just say it and it's done, Civilian Miles Lancaster. You do not have the clearance." Prowl said.

Jazz shrugged, "Well, Ah think he did, Prowler. If ya want to take tha' up with Barry-" He pointedly ignored the snarl that the 'con gave at the use of his nickname. The only one who could call the Decepticon Neutral Barry without getting their heads verbally torn off or snarled at was Miles. "-ya can do so yourself. Ah doubt if Miles asked that Optimus would actually disagree, an' Ah think it would be better for Barry as well."

"Optimus did suggest, however jokingly, that Miles could be the liaison between us and Barricade." Bumblebee cut in, amusement evident in his voice. "Miles replied only under the designation 'Flower Power', but either way that is theoretically letting him pull rank there."

Ironhide snorted once again, "If he had actually been given that rank, then theoretically yes."

"As much as I love the mentioning of the weirder things I've said, can we know why you wanted us here, Will?" Miles said, trying to effectively change the subject. It seemed to work.

"Invitation to the first annual NEST Halloween party." Will said in way of explanation.

Both the young teenagers were silent for a moment, but that was broken by Sam starting to laugh. Miles gave Will a slightly angry, but mostly incredulous look.

"Seriously?" Miles asked in an exasperated tone. "You put me and Barry through all that just for something you could have invited me to over email?"

Sam put a comforting hand on Miles shoulder. "Don't worry, Bee and me will drive Mason home!"

"You'll tell me before he lubricates in me, right?" Bumblebee asked, sounding slightly disgruntled.

Sam laughed, "Course, Bee. I know the signs as well as Miles does. Hopefully you'll be smarter than Barricade and actually listen, though."

Bumblebee looked marginally relieved, while Barricade just glared at Sam. Will, Fig, and Epps started to eat their dinner while Sam dragged Miles away from the table to a safe location. While this had to be rather far away, since the Cybertronians had better hearing than humans, Miles brought Mason with him to at least make sure his Mastiff was safe.

"So, what's really going to happen to you?" Sam asked, grinning.

Miles sighed, "Ugh, I should have known you'd know me to well. I think it'll be kind of like how you're doing it, but he'll probably play the unpredictable 'con card just to have me on my toes."

"Mind fucking you?" Sam asked, though it came off as more of a statement.

"Pretty much." Miles replied dryly. "Make me paranoid with odd behavior but never do anything that could constitute as outright payback for awhile, even though I did tell him to pull the frag over so Mason could use the restroom. But did he listen? No."

Sam laughed, "Damned if you do, damned if you don't with him."

"You are exceptionally good at your word choice tonight, Samual. Should I be worried?" Miles asked teasingly.

"Always be worried Miles." Sam grinned back.

"GARW?" He asked.

Sam nodded, "Yeah, Giant Alien Robot Worried." And the two teens laughed.

* * *

><p><em>At the NEST base: Operation Halloween is a Go. (About a week after the Mason the Mastiff incident.)<em>

It was rare for Captain William Lennox to be able to fully relax on the NEST base, between paper work and overly annoying officials, but he was as close as he could get to it out on the firing range with a weapon in his hand. That was why he was already heading out there, figuring it wouldn't be too crowded. Most of the base was off scheming or decorating for Halloween, and he was more than willing to enjoy the peace, however brief it may be.

On his walk to the firing range he couldn't help but think of how he had ended up there, and his fellow brothers, and sisters, in arms. He wouldn't really describe any of them as _sane_, but the did have a cluster fuck of bravery, impulsiveness, and war hardened military training to help them to survive. Even the civilians weren't too different from the military personnel at NEST, though for them you might be able to add ignorance.

Scratch that, they were all dealing with the same giant metallic beings from outer space. They were all fairly ignorant in those regards. But Will was happy to see the human NEST members get so excited over sharing a holiday with the Cybertronians, and even the Cybertronians themselves had showed interest in participating in Earth culture.

Many things that compliment Halloween, and just end up screaming it really, had been brought in. From fake blood and make up supplies, to Cybertronian sized costumes, and pumpkins. Lots and lots of pumpkins. If Halloween was anything to go by he'd hate to see Thanksgiving come. He'd almost fear a bunch of turkeys running around, but he quickly pushed that thought out of his head. Ironhide would shoot them all before they got even remotely annoying to Will.

Entering the firing range he pushed away his stray though process and focused on the two people already inside of it.

"I'm surprised one of you aren't causing any trouble." Will said casually as he strolled in and grabbed his fire arm of choice.

Epps was currently teaching Jazz how to shoot with human technology, even the ones that had been more influenced by the 'bots around them. Why the Autobot would want to learn was beyond Will, and Epps, but he had asked and who was Epps to say no?

"Tha' hurts, William. Righ' near mah spark, it does." Jazz replied, never taking his eyes off the target even as Epps instructed him to change his grip slightly or move his arm a certain way.

"Yes, well I still happen to see you the lesser of two evils. The greater one hasn't denied any accusations." He stated, eyes narrowing slightly at his Sergeant.

Epps chuckled, "Ironically enough I am contemplating going as Satan."

"And I'm going as a fraggin' banana, big deal." Will replied. "You've been quiet the past two days. What are you up to?"

"How deep of a recharge does Ironhide go into?" Epps asked, trying to sound innocent but failing.

"Why?" Will asked in return, not ready to relinquish any information until he knew why and decided losing his life over it might be worth it.

"We wan' ta make Hide a Jack-o-lantern." Jazz explained, taking a moment to shoot the target and hitting it at dead center. "An' possibly remove the ammunition of his cannons and replace 'em with…" He trailed off, looking to Epps for the right words.

"Pumpkin guts. That way if he shoots it won't hurt that much." Epps clarified, grinning at Will.

Will considered it a moment, weighing the pros and cons in his head separately. After about a minute Will told Epps what he wanted to know, as long as he would be getting pictures of it or at least able to help with the cannons. He might not be able to work them even if he had them, but he could still respect a powerful weapon when he saw it. While shoving the inside of pumpkin guts inside of said weapons might not seem like respect, it would get him a closer view while said cannons were inactivated for once.


	14. The awakening of cat Miles

**AN: I had to look up what Blurr is. Wikipedia says 'Data Courier' which is basically just a messanger? Well that's what I'm having since I don't know that much about Blurr. Pretty sure he isn't in Bayverse originally and if he is I completely missed him. ****I wasn't sure how to do Blurr's speech. I didn't wanttodothis, so I decided-on-this. That way you can still read it, but it's different from normal speech. It'll only be used when he's talking fast.**

**Lyrics from** _Do you really want to hurt me? by Culture Club._

**Also, Mr. Taxi by SNSD is real. Go and look it up to get an image for the Halloween costumes for Sam and Mikaela. Altered a bit, of course. The Dance Version, it should be the first link. The very first girl who sings would do, since that's one of the versions with shorts. Though minus the hat, probably.**

**Once again I apologize for uploading chapter twelve twice instead of the actual content for chapter thirteen. That has been fixed and I thank all of you who pointed it out.**

_Bookworm Gal: _Anything with the Cybertronians should be a fun or hilarious event!_  
><em>_  
><span>cascadenight<span>:_ I'm happy you like it! I hope you continue to enjoy this story. Thanks for the review. :)  
><em><br>Noella50881:_I'm glad you enjoy the story. Thanks for the review!

_The Result of Squffie:_I don't think anyone's stupid enough to do that. Besides, Hide's already somewhat black so they don't need that much black paint!  
><em><br>Fk306 animelover:_ I actually really really love that idea. **(She mentioned two humans dressing up as a devil and an angel, and then riding on Optimus' shoulders and acting as his good and evil side for the night)** I'm not sure if I'll do that, but I think it would be funnier with Ironhide. Mainly because the devil would always be like "Shot it!" and often times the angel would lose! But that idea did make me laugh, so thank you. :)

* * *

><p><em>In Tranquility<em>

"So… Why did Samual, Mrs. Witwicky, and Mikaela go into that, what is it again?" Bumblebee asked the only remaining human inside of him.

Miles grinned, leaning back in the seat as he looked at the day spa that Sam, Judy, and Mikaela had gone into. It paid to be someone's best friend since elementary school, you ended up collecting a lot of dirt on them. It helped that Mikaela was in on it too, and begged Sam to get his legs waxed with her. He almost wish he had gone in to watch, but would have been afraid that he would have been dragged in to it somehow.

"It's called a spa, Bee." He explained. "A place where people go to get… tune ups, I guess. You should really google it, I've never been to one. I just know you can get waxes there, but not the kind you would get. It removes body hair. That's what Sam's getting."

"I still don't think I understand why you are doing this to him. He seems to dislike it." Bumblebee replied.

"Well, not right now. After it's all done in like ten years he'll laugh at it." He stated. "But this also means he'll be able to get back at me."

Bumblebee sat silently for a moment as he thought that over. "Does he have no ground substance on you?"

"It's dirt, Bee." Miles said, laughing. "And no. Nothing that I wouldn't willingly tell other people. I don't have anything that big on Sam, but I got Mikaela in on it since they'll be wearing matching outfits."

"So why does Sam need his legs waxed, and not Mikaela?" The Cybertronian asked, sinking on his wheels a bit.

"It's a sex role thing. Here at least most men don't shave. Some swimmers do, but otherwise not that much. Women are expected to, though." He explained. "If you ask me it's stupid, but that's the way it is. Waxing is one of the more… painful ways to do it."

There was only static for a moment before Bumblebee found the song he wanted. "_Do you really want to hurt me? Do you really want to make me cry?_"

Miles laughed, "Don't use that against me. You just sparred with Prowl not even two days ago. Waxing may hurt but I guarantee it hurts a lot less than that."

Bumblebee replied by playing a raspberry on his radio, prompting Miles to laugh more. "What are Sam's and Mikaela's costumes going to be?" He asked.

"Look up by SNSD on you tube, the dance version. The shorts version, not the skirt. I think the first girl who starts it off works fine for that. Just remove any white and black stripes and the outfits good. Mikaela might have something in her hair, but whatever."

"So they'll be matching… what exactly?" Bumblebee asked.

"Cheerleaders, supporters, mascots. Whichever is more appropriate." Miles replied, grinning. "For you."

He could feel it as Bumblebee laughed, his entire frame shaking slightly. The Autobot stayed silent for awhile, and Miles left him to whatever he may be thinking. He figured he was imagining Sam and Mikaela in those outfits. Personally, he just couldn't wait to see how Sam would act while wearing an outfit like that.

"Sam told me that you would be wearing a naughty police uniform for Barricade." A moments pause. "Though I think a naughty prisoner uniform would work better for you, and then Barricade could wear the police uniform."

Miles started to laugh, "No, just no. I don't even know what I'm go-" He started to say but was cut off by someone contacting Bumblebee.

"Base to Bumblebee. New Autobot has arrived. Designation unknown." And that was all. It took Miles a minute to recognize it as Prowl.

Bumblebee started his engine, and the seatbelt slid around Miles of its own accord. The Autobot pulled out of the parking space quickly, and raced out of the parking lot.

"I'm just going to assume we're going, then. And that you're bringing me along." Miles stated dryly.

Bumblebee laughed, "I'll contact Ronald and he'll be there in time to pick them up. And this will give you the perfect opportunity to meet one of us right off the bat. By the time the 'bot gets to base they'll probably know English."

"Just wish we could take videos for blackmail later." Miles replied.

Bumblebee snorted, and tuned his radio to a station he knew Sam and Miles liked. They made the rest of the trip to base in relative silence as Miles texted Sam and Mikaela what was going on, and Bumblebee called Ron. They made some small talk, mainly about who Bumblebee thought the Autobot might be. Miles texted everyone at base that he could human wise, even Maggie, but either they didn't know or it was a surprise. This only prompted Bumblebee to speed up and break a few laws to get there faster. Miles pretended not to notice.

When they got past the gates they were greeted by Prowl. Bumblebee could feel it as Prowl scanned him, checking for how many was inside of him, most likely.

"Hello Bumblebee, civilian Samual Witwicky." Prowl said in greeting. He obviously had done a very basic scan on Bumblebee, and had assumed that it was Sam inside.

Miles smirked, rolling down Bee's window. "Sorry, Prowlie, it's your worst nightmare."

"Cybertronians do not dream, civilian Miles Lancaster." Prowl replied, optics narrowing. "It's Data Courier Blurr, Bumblebee."

"Data Courier? Translate that to stupid English, please?" Miles asked.

Bumblebee laughed, "Basically a messenger, Miles. He's… fast. In everything he does."

Bumblebee did a quick scan of the area and located where Blurr was. He drove there quickly, stopping not too far away from the new to Earth Cybertronian to let Miles unbuckle and get out. Once the teen did that he transformed.

"Bumblebee, have you scrambled your processor by any chance?" Ratchet asked, glaring at Bumblebee as he came over.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Blurr knows better than to squish anything." Bumblebee replied, waving dismissively at Ratchet. A human gesture that he had picked up, but by now almost all of them had picked up a few.

"He hasn't met any of the humans yet, and you know how excited Blurr can get." Ratchet said.

It wasn't like Miles was alone with Blurr while Ratchet and Bumblebee talked. Sunstreaker was there off to the side, watching as Miles approached Blurr and waved.

"Hi, I'm Mi-Woah!" He was startled when Blurr quickly picked him up and moved him closer for examination. "Hey, we do not man handle the squishy! Especially not without consent before hand! Put me down!"

"Amazing-is-it-a-pet?" Blurr asked, directing his question towards Sunstreaker.

"Who are you calling a pet you overgrown scrap heap?" Miles huffed, squirming in Blurr's grip as he tried to free his arms. "Put me down you aft!"

"It-has-adopted-some-of-our-words. Mi-Woah-is-cute." Blurr said, poking gently at Miles head.

Sunstreaker sighed, "His name is Miles, Blurr. He was surprised when you picked him up, and it caused him to exclaim something while cutting off his name. He is a human, and no they are not pets. They are strong beings that even managed to take down a few 'cons."

"These-things-have-taken-down-Decepticons? Impossible!" Blurr exclaimed.

"They have. This one, Miles, befriended Barricade before he became the Decepticon Neutral we were telling you about." The warrior stated. "We'll fill you in more later with the data."

"It-Wait,-I-mean-he,-befriended-Barricade? These-things-are-glitched-in-their-processors-Sunstreaker! And-they're-our-allies?" Blurr asked, clearly confused.

As Sunstreaker tried to explain things to Blurr, Miles quickly found out that even giant alien robots could talk with their hands. And with how fast Blurr talked, he was quickly regretting ever having stepped foot near the 'bot. He wasn't sure if Ratchet had just forgotten about him, or if he was waiting until the point where the newest Cybertronian would actually let go of him. It felt like he was on the worst kind of theme park ride. He was dizzy, felt nauseous, and was pretty sure he had at least a bit of whiplash from the way his neck felt. He closed his eyes to see if that would help at all. He didn't know how long Sunstreaker and Blurr continued to talk, but he knew it was for awhile.

Miles was thankful when Blurr's hand suddenly stopped in mid swing, but he could feel the 'bot tense, and opened his eyes to see why. He quickly regretted that as his vision decided not to work like it normally should.

"Let him go, Autobot." He heard Barricade snarl. "These organics are delicate. You could damage him."

He wasn't sure when Barricade had gotten there, but he was beyond thankful to the 'con at that moment.

"And-why-should-I-listen-to-you,-'con?" Blurr retorted, glaring at Barricade.

"He's right, Blurr. Give Miles to Barricade." Ratchet said, and Miles couldn't help but wonder where Bumblebee and Ratchet had been when he was being slung around like a pillow during a pillow fight. He knew Sunstreaker either didn't care, or didn't know the effects it could have on a human. He was happy when Blurr did so, albeit reluctantly. He was dropped into Barricade's hand, and was relieved when Barricade pressed a finger gently but firmly against his back to keep him up right.

"Thanks a lot, Barry." Miles said, leaning against Barricade's finger as his world finally went around to turning itself right side up again.

"I waited a bit just to see if you would puke on him." Barricade replied, walking away from the other Cybertronians and to the main hangar.

He snorted, "Oh that's wonderful. It's a newcomer, lets hand them a human so they can get organic digestive track liquid all over them! Haha, so funny."

"I thought so." And Miles could practically hear the smirk in Barricade's voice.

"And have you decided what you're going to be for Halloween?" Miles asked.

"A police officer." Barricade replied. "You could be my prisoner."

Miles laughed, "Fat chance. That would make too many people happy. And you're so lame, Barry! You're always a police officer."

"And what are you going as?" The 'con asked.

"Uhm… I dunno. A bed sheet ghost, probably." Miles replied, shrugging.

"And you call me lame?" Barricade snorted, walking in to the main hangar where a few mechs were.

Miles huffed, "Well, fine, maybe I'll get Wheeljack to help me with my costume! At least then it'll be the coolest one there."

"Really?" Oh, there was Wheeljack. Looks like he heard Miles, too.

Barricade laughed, but Miles ignored him. "Uh, yeah, Jack! You should totally help me with my costume."

"Excellent!" The scientist exclaimed. "I'll get to work immediately. I'll contact you and you can come to base early." And with that he was gone.

"My big mouth…" Miles muttered, looking back up at the 'con. "At least if it explodes I won't need any makeup to look like I'm wounded, cuz I really will be."

* * *

><p>Miles was annoyed. The sun didn't even look like it was coming up yet, and he had been woken up by Barricade. He made a mental note to ask how they did that even when a cell phone was turned off later as he glared out the 'cons window. It was about two in the morning when Wheeljack decided he needed to be brought in for his costume. He was at least a bit happy that he would have had to wake up early anyway since the Halloween party was an all day thing. When they arrived at base Miles got out of Barricade and started walking with the 'con to Wheeljack's lab.<p>

"Did anyone approve it?" Miles asked, slightly worried.

"Prowl." Barricade replied. Miles felt slightly relieved then, figuring that Prowl would make the right say on things if nothing else.

They arrived at the lab and Barricade left him alone, going off to do his own things. Miles went inside and almost immediately Wheeljack told him to sit off to the side because he was busy. Frowning, Miles did as he was told. He tried to see what Wheeljack was working on, but couldn't because he was watching Jack's back. He ended up falling asleep quickly, still tired and bored with nothing to do while Wheeljack working. And that was when Wheeljack striked.

The next time he woke up he realized he was lying on a cool metal table thing, and that everything felt a bit fuzzy. His head hurt a bit, as well as his lower back in one spot and he couldn't think of why. He chalked it down to sleeping wrong and hitting his head off something without noticing. He figured Wheeljack must have put him up there, and he sat up, looking around for the scientist. He didn't see the mech anywhere, but did notice a note not too far away from him. Curious, he picked it up seeing it was addressed to him.

"_Miles,_  
><em>Hopefully you read this note first before finding out what I did for your costume. Make sure not to pull on the add ons too hard, and don't try to remove them. You might notice a slight ache in your head and very very lower back, because some of the add ons actually had to go inside of you. They move, respond to your emotions, and outside stimuli. Like if someone pinches one you'll feel pain. Cool right? You'll have to chose what you wear based on the add ons. I won't go into details about how they work, but they're extremely realistic. That's all you need to know. There's a full length mirror in there for you to look at yourself. It might have a few… side effects that pertain to the add ons. We thought those would be nice to add to make it even more realistic.<em>  
><em>P.S. Don't try to remove them on your own. We didn't exactly think of how to remove them easily, and I'm currently hiding from Ratchet.<em>  
><em>Have fun!<em>  
><em>Wheeljack<em>"

Miles read the note, and then had to go back and read it three more times to actually process what it said. He took a minute to panic, reaching up to feel on his head then stopping the motion. He jumped off the table and found the full length mirror that Wheeljack had mentioned. His jaw dropped when he saw what looked like two cat ears on his head, and a cat tail behind him.

The fur covering them was the same exact color as his hair, and when he reached up to feel an ear he could feel and see it move. He could see the tail moving behind him, and he grabbed it, pinching it hard. He could feel pain, but it felt slightly off somehow, and he figured it was because the tail wasn't actually a part of him. He could feel that they weren't real after pinching them, mechanics stopping him at some point.

When his tail slipped out of his hand of its own accord he started to panic again, remembering what Wheeljack's note had said. He couldn't remove them because they were attached. That meant some part of the ears and tail were inside of him, connected to him. Oh, he was so going to Ratchet and making sure Wheeljack would pay. And Prowl had _approved_ of this? He almost didn't think the mech had it in him, he would have never believed that Prowl would do some form of pay back.

He took a deep breath, and held it as he left Wheeljack's lab to help him focus on something else. After that he couldn't help but wonder what kind of side effects there might be. He walked back to where most of the buildings were, going to Will's office. It was still early, about six according to his phone. He figured he could trust the older man, but when he walked in there was two others in his office that he would have preferred he could have gone without meeting.

"Miles… ya look different. Ah see Wheeljack got at ya." Jazz stated, both he and Epps getting up and going over to Miles. He felt Epps yank on his tail.

"Hey!" He snapped. "That's attached, you know!"

Epps started to laugh, "Oh, Primus, this is great! We need to get you a better outfit, though. Maybe a collar with a bell, a leash."

Miles started to back away towards Will, never noticing the grin on Will's face as he moved beside him. "Will you have to stop the-Hey!" He cried out as Will shoved him towards Jazz. "You traitor!"

"Sorry, mah man. Looks like ya higher ups are goin' against ya." Jazz said, though he didn't sound apologetic at all even as he picked Miles up and tossed him over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

Jazz carried Miles out of Will's office with Epps following behind. Both ignored the fuss that Miles was making, Jazz not being hurt no matter how much Miles kicked and punched at him.

"Let me go! This is kidnapping! Help! Someone help!" Miles cried, hitting at Jazz's back. He didn't think he could actually hurt the 'bot, but he wasn't hitting his hardest just in case. "Barry, they're gonna torture me! Ratchet! Anybody!"

But no one answered, and he was at their mercy for whatever they planned to do to him until someone came for him. And Miles decided that a lot of people were going to pay. Prowl who he thought just might have convinced Wheeljack into doing it, Will for being a traitor, and Jazz and Epps for being Jazz and Epps.


	15. Fake Megs and Screamer

**AN: You people seem to like cat!Miles, which is good. It's great to know my readers have a twisted mind just like me. :) **

_Bookworm Gal:_ Miles makes a great cat._  
><span>Fk306 animelover:<span>_ Glad you like it! And I have another idea for embarrassing Ironhide. I think you should go through with that idea yourself!_  
><span>Autobot Firekat<span>:_ No, you can not have kitty Miles! He's all mine! BWAHAHAHAH_  
><span>The Result of Squffie<span>:_ Yes, Wheeljack could have done a lot worse._  
><span>writergurl616<span>:_ Miles with Flynn Rider's haircut from tangled? Hmm, maybe. I personally loved Flynn, and his SMOULDER._  
><span>anonybot<span>:_ The only other add on was one not seen, and that'll be explained if you read on. _  
><span>Holen-Snape<span>:_ I'm happy you like it, thanks for the review!_  
><span>LionLover190<span>:_ As I have no life, and I wanted to write the "second version" of part of this chapter, here's your update!

**Sidenote: I wrote a "second version" of the game that was created in this. Mainly to satisfy my own Barricade/Miles craving. It's like an AU of that part of this chapter, since idk about relationships in this just yet. If any of you read "It was only a kiss" it's like a sequel to that, but Cade/Miles instead of Bee/Sam. It will be called "Blame it on the high grade"**

**REVIEW OR RETURN OF CAT!MILES IS NIGH! Wait... that's good... so, uh... REVIEW, OR CAT!MILES WILL NOT BE FED! HELP FEED CAT MILES**

* * *

><p>When Sam arrived at the base around eight in the morning with Bumblebee and Mikaela, he wasn't expecting to hear so much about a new cat that had popped up. Both of them were already in their costumes, and while he was thoroughly embarrassed and found it awkward to ride in Bee, he figured he could always get Miles back later. Currently, he was in the Autobot rec-room with Will, Mikaela, Barricade, and a few of the 'bots. They had just been introduced to Blurr, thankfully without being shaken around like Miles had been.<p>

"So what's this about a stray cat?" Mikaela asked Will.

Will tried not to smirk. "Oh, Wheeljack ma-found him. If you hear a bell anywhere that's probably him. Last I heard his name was Flower, and he was in the med bay with Ratchet and Wheeljack."

"Heard anything about Miles? I haven't seen him since I dropped him off at the lab." Barricade stated, obviously not caring about any new cat that had been found.

"Oh, uhm, I think he's in the med bay too." Will replied, snorting with laughter but trying to cover it up with coughs.

Sam and Mikaela gave Will an odd look while Bumblebee and Barricade just shook their heads, walking out of the room with the two teenagers. They walked to the med bay, and could already hear Ratchet screaming and throwing things when they were two halls away. Sam paused, not wanting to go on anymore, but Mikaela grabbed him and pushed him onwards.

When they entered the med bay they weren't surprised to see Ratchet or Wheeljack, but they were surprised to see Miles sitting on one of the giant berths. It slowly clicked who the new cat was when they saw the cat ears and tail, as well as the collar with a bell on his neck. It looked like someone had drawn whiskers on his cheeks, and somehow forced him into cat paw gloves. Sam's mouth dropped open, and Mikaela said something about him being cute, causing Miles and the two 'bots to notice the newcomers.

"Hi guys!" Miles said in a cheerful voice, though his ears and tail hinted at his irritation. "It looks like these things are literally attached and we have no way of just yanking them off because someone did something with… well, spinal chord something or another. It all flew over my head, but it can't just be pulled out. And I have nano-something or fucking other in me, isn't that great?"

Wheeljack huffed, "There will only be a few side effects from the nanobots. I programmed them to make you a bit more cat like. Worse comes to worse they go wild and start mutating you. But don't worry, we'll offline you before that gets too bad, young Miles."

Miles looked at him horrified, ears flattened against his head. Sam and Mikaela had about the same expression, Ratchet looked pissed, Barricade looked pissed, and Bumblebee looked a mixture between worry, shock, and amusement.

"Relax! I was just kidding!" Wheeljack exclaimed, rolling his optics at all of them. "If anything the nanobots will only help Miles. Make his sense of smell sharper, eye sight keener as well as possibly giving him the chance to see in the dark, his canines might get a bit sharper, as well as his nails. The ears on top of his head he'll never actually be able to hear out of, he still has his regular ears. That's only if the nanobots don't deactivate as soon as we remove the tail and ears like they're supposed to. …Or if we can't get the ears and tail off in time. Oh, he might get a bit more flexible and might land on his feet more often, too. Besides that I can't think of anything."

Ratchet picked up a wrench while Wheeljack was talking, and tossed it right as he finished. Miles and Sam visibly flinched out the loud clang, and then again when Wheeljack hit the ground. It looked like Ratchet had offlined him in one hit.

"Glitched in the processor! Nothing more than a useless scrap heap! Aft for brains…" Ratchet could be heard muttering as he bent down to pick Wheeljack up and put him on a berth. "You! Get out of here, I'll see what I can do!" He snapped at Miles, startling him.

Miles jumped off the berth and quickly hightailed it over to his four friends. They all practically raced out of the room when they saw Ratchet pick up another wrench. When they got to the human rec-room Sam and Mikaela gave Miles a full once over.

"Epps and Jazz caught me. This stuff came from some roleplay kink box, and Epps won't give me the key to the collar!" Miles exclaimed, huffing. "I'm more thankful that it hadn't been opened, and they only forced the gloves and the collar on me."

Sam laughed, "Okay, I don't think I need to get you back at all!"

"I can't believe 'Cade here was actually stupid enough to let you have Wheeljack do anything for you!" Mikaela said, prompting both Sam and Bee to nod in agreement.

"You know, I actually agree with you, 'Kaela." Miles stated. "Why the hell didn't you tell me I was being completely stupid?"

Barricade growled, "Don't blame this on me! The last time I told you not to do something you went and did it anyway, and got hurt just like I said you would."

Miles was about to reply when they heard Epps screaming from down the hall. They turned to look at him as he ran towards them, then past them. They saw some large orange mech turn the corner, realizing it was Ironhide after a moment. They watched as Ironhide tried to shoot at Epps, but all that came out of his cannons were pumpkin guts. Sam started to laugh, but squeaked and hid behind Miles when a cannon pointed in his face.

"Dude. You're a fucking jack-o-lantern!" Miles said, laughing. "But I know of two others who did this to you. I need to get them back, anyway."

Ironhide narrowed his optics, "Who? I assumed he worked with the twins."

"Nope!" Miles exclaimed, smirking. "Will and Jazz. Will gave them your recharge cycle and helped replace your ammo. Jazz and Epps did your costume."

"Thanks." Ironhide stated, before turning into his alt mode and racing down the hall after Epps.

Sam turned to look at Miles. "You know they're slagged, right?"

"Will turned on me, and Jazz and Epps deserve it." Miles explained, shrugging. "Now I only need to get Prowl."

"Prowl?" Bumblebee asked, raising an optic ridge.

"He approved Wheeljack's idea. Personally I think he was getting me back." Miles replied, already walking away down the hall. Every step made the bell on his collar jingle.

The four followed Miles, pretty sure that Prowl would never have it in him to do something like that. After a minute or two of silence Sam crept up on Miles, and reached his hand out and yanked on his tail. He snickered when Miles hissed and glared at him.

"Cat suits you perfectly, bro!" Sam said, grinning.

Miles glared, "And your costume suits you perfectly. I didn't know they were going to put Bee's bee-otch on the side, but it fits."

Mikaela snickered, striking a pose next to her boyfriend. "I think we both look fabulous!" Her costume, however, did not have Bee's bee-otch on the side.

"I have to concur. I enjoy having my own cheerleaders." Bumblebee said, smirking.

Sam glared, grabbing Miles and dragging him off down the hall. "So, how soon will those things be off?"

Miles froze. "Oh God, I don't know! I can't go home like this, my parents have no idea about Cybertronians! They'll think I've been experimented on or something! And I have things inside of me! Those nanobots!"

"Woah, calm down. It'll be figured out soon and until then we'll just lie to your parents." Sam said, trying to comfort his friend, but when Mikaela glared at him he figured he had failed.

Mikaela stepped up, sneaking her hand up towards Miles head and stroking one of his ears. "Don't worry, Ratchet's good. They'll be gone quickly. Sam can bring you any homework you have, and if you need to talk to your parents just wear a hat and sit on your tail. No different than one of your usual stays here." A pause, followed by a giggle. "And one of those side effects must be purring."

Miles groaned, not even realizing he had been doing so. "Great. I'm a slagging cat."

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" Barricade called, gesturing for Miles to come to him.

Miles just hissed at him.

* * *

><p>News of Miles' predicament had spread through the base quickly, and a lot of people started to call him kitty, or joked about the return of ceiling cat being nigh. By the time the party was really starting Miles had took up an almost permanent spot by Barricade, knowing the 'con would scare the most annoying people away.<p>

Ratchet and Wheeljack were working on a way to fix Miles. The last thing Ratchet wanted was the boy to be stuck with NEST for the rest of his life because a poor excuse of a scrap heap had thought it good to do something to the human's body without his permisson.

When Prowl and Miles had crossed paths Miles had almost though Prowl was innocent and hadn't done it for payback, but he caught the slightest smirk on his faceplates and glared at the mech. "You're better than I thought. Better watch yourself, Prowler." Miles had stated.

Prowl had just smirked at him, "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about Miles Lancaster."

Those closer to Miles were half surprised he wasn't freaking out more, but then again they were doing their best to distract him. It helped when the twins called everyone in to the haunted maze they had taken the liberty of making. Everyone had to go in on foot, and the Cybertronians had to use their holoforms to make it more fair. Only three were allowed in at a time, and the first three to go were Miles, Barricade, and Sam. Not even twenty feet from the opening and Miles was already holding on to Barricade's arm, scared of what the twins might have in store.

It wasn't that bad, the few cheap thrills that would make up the basic haunted maze. They were almost to the middle when they heard Sideswipe's voice come out of a speaker placed on the ground.

"You're almost to the middle, congrajulations! At the very center of the maze is where our scariest horror awaits, so don't be too alarmed!" Sideswipe said, cutting off the transmission soon after.

Suddenly wary, the three made it to the center of the maze. Sam and Miles stared in shock at what they were seeing, trying to comprehend it, and Barricade was torn between shock, anger, disgust, and amusement.

There were holograms of Starscream and Megatron in all their bipedal glory... interfacing. Then directly next to those holograms were fake holoforms of the two Decepticons, giving them human forms to show them having sex.

"OH MY GOD MY POOR INNOCENT EYES!" Sam screamed, attempting to run past the holograms to the other side of the maze.

It turned out that this was a mistake, because Miles watched as bipedal Megatron got a chord from... somewhere, he didn't want to look too closely, and had it go after Sam and pick the poor human up. When the fake Megatron asked Sam to join them in their interface Miles had turned to Barricade with a horrified look, and Barricade had just turned him around and guided him back the way they came.

They could hear Sam screaming as they left him behind, but Miles wasn't too worried when he heard Bumblebee shouting at the twins, and could see the scout enter the maze in bipedal form. Barricade just didn't care.

* * *

><p>Barricade entered the human rec-room with Sam, Miles, Mikaela, and Bumblebee. Every Cybertronian in the rec-room were currently in holoform so they could fit inside of it. Besides them there was Maggie, Will, Epps, Jazz, Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet, Blurr, Fig, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and a few other army personnel that he couldn't bother to think of names for. There was plenty of high grade Energon for the Cybertronians to drink, and alcoholic beverages for the humans. The room was full of decorations for Halloween.<p>

Ironhide was still painted as a pumpkin, Sam and Mikaela were still 'cheerleaders' for Bumblebee, Bumblebee himself was a vampire, Will was a knight, Epps was a zombie, Jazz was Yoda, Ratchet was dressed as an evil doctor, Blurr was a farmer, Fig was a Spanish conquistador, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were each other, Maggie and Optimus hadn't bothered.

Everyone had something to drink. High grade was basically alcohol to a Cybertronian, though they usually remained stable and able to speak well. Even Sam, Mikaela, and Miles had something to drink, seeing as they were nearly eighteen and around more than capable of supervising adults. Cybertronian wise, anyway. Mikaela was only slightly buzzed, but Sam and Miles were apparently light weights. It appeared tha Bumblebee, Blurr, and Sideswipe were, too. Blurr actually slowed down, though, which was a blessing for everyone.

Sam was still upset after the twins latest prank, and had been avoiding touching Mikaela like the plague. As if just a touch could remind him of what he had seen. Both Miles and Barricade were trying their best to forget the extremely realistic holograms as well.

It helped when at one point they had gone around the room, telling something about themselves that no body else knew. Ironhide, who had been completely drunk by then, had admitted to playing pretty princess with Annabelle and enjoying it. The Weapons Specialist had then gotten angry when everyone had laughed at him, and Will and Optimus had had to drag him out of the room and get him to go recharge.

At one point, later on in the night when most of the people had gone to sleep, the remaining beings there had decided to make their own game. It was a mix of spin the bottle, the card kissing game, chicken, and seven minutes in heaven. If the person couldn't transfer the card to the person next to them successfully then the two had to play the kissing version of chicken. If one of them was chiceken then they'd lose and the braver would win, if both kissed then they had to make out for three minutes in front of all the others. The two people that were participating were chosen by a spinning bottle.

Sam, Bumblebee, Barricade, Miles, Epps, Jazz, Will, Sideswipe, and Maggie were the only ones playing the game, all at several different stages of 'intoxicated'. Will and Epps had been the first go, and when Will backed out during chicken Epps kissed him anyway since Sideswipe had a camera. Afterwards he had turned towards the camera and had actually told Sarah, who he assumed would see it, that if she was jealous he would kiss her too.

The only two who had gone the three whole minutes of making out was Barricade and Miles, though Maggie and Jazz had came close. Sam and Bumblebee had been paired up at one point, much to Maggie's excitement, but Sam had chickened out. After Barricade and Miles had both technically won their round, Miles had exclaimed that Maggie owed him money because she had said she'd pay to see the two of them kiss. Bumblebee and Sideswipe had almost felt sorry for her, but they were just too amused to actually feel that way from the look of embarrassment on her face.

The nine had fallen asleep in the human rec-room, the Cybertronians staying in there holoforms. Miles was using Barricade as a pillow as Barricade sat on one of the couches, Miles taking up the rest of it. Maggie had one of the couches all to herself, Epps was in a lazy boy, Bumblebee and Sam were sharing another couch, and Sideswipe, Jazz, and Will were on the floor.

They all were woken up by an amused Fig, who had found the camera and was holding it up.

"Well, well, you lot had some fun last night, hmm?" Fig drawled, smirking.

Miles and Sam had just groaned, one burying his head further in Barricade's lap, while the other put his hands over his ears. The Cybertronians came back online quicker, and all had clear processors as they stared at Fig in shock. And then Sideswipe had growled, giving chase.


	16. From an alliance to a guardianship

**AN: So yeah. A temporary alliance turns into a guardianship? Permanent or not we'll see how it flows. School will be starting on the 29th so I might not post as often, if at all.**

_Bookworm Gal:_ A lot of people would be scarred for life if they say that.  
><em><span>anonybot:<span>_ Undecided on that yet.  
><em><span>writergurl616:<span>_ Fig should know better than to touch Sideswipe's stuff.  
><em><span>Fk306 animelover:<span>_ Hmm, maybe plan for it to be only a few paragraphs or mostly talking? That way it might not be as daunting.  
><em><span>Autobot Firekat:<span>_ Haha, I have succeeded into converting you on to the Barricade/Miles path! Don't know if I'll actually have it though :D  
><em><span>SamWhitlock:<span>_ I'm happy you enjoy the story, and thanks for adding it to your alerts!  
><em><span>The result of Squffie:<span>_ They fell asleep in the rec-room. Anyone could waltz right in. Especially Fig.

**Question: If I were to have any pairings, what would you guys like to see? I'm curious**

* * *

><p>Prowl was in his office, innocently working as Second in Command to Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, when the distraction in the form of a tiny organic had come into his office. He had tried to ignore it at first, but when he didn't respond to the organic the creature had climbed up onto his desk and was standing on top of his desk, arms crossed against his chest impatiently.<p>

With a sigh, he finally put his data pad down to look at Miles. "What do you want?"

"A temporary alliance." Miles replied to the question, sitting on the desk now that he had Prowl's attention.

"A what?" An optic ridge was raised as the question was asked.

Miles pointed to the cat ears on top of his head, figuring the tail spoke for itself as it moved around. "I know this was your idea." He paused slightly to see what Prowl's reaction would be.

"But-" Prowl began, only to be cut off by the human.

"I'm just going to assume you didn't know all the specifics and just suggested the idea. I don't think you actually planned to have them be stuck on me, even if it's not even been a full two days with them yet." Miles said swiftly, waving a dismissive hand. "However, the fact remains that I am now stuck with them, and those nano-whosits that are apparently changing me slightly. For the better I guess, but that doesn't matter. I would have aimed to get you back for it, but I want to team up with you instead."

"For what, exactly?" Prowl asked, thrown for a loop as his logic processor tried to figure out just what Miles was talking about.

Miles grinned, "Teaming up against the twins. I've heard stories of how annoying they must be to you, and I feel kind of guilty for just ditching Sam like that and leaving him in the clutches of the twins' Halloween prank. If they're getting bold enough to mess with humans, then I think its time that humans messed back."

Prowl was silent for a moment as he studied Miles. Slowly he turned off his data pad, and made sure the door was locked so no random 'bot could burst in. "What did you have in mind?"

"Something drawn out, that would really mess with their brai-Err, processors. Earth is still new to them and there are a lot of superstitions and folk lore on this planet. I figure we must be able to use something against them, and you basically being a giant walking super computer, I figured if they tried to look stuff up you could mess with their searches or something." Miles said softly, grinning mischievously. "Just the basic lay out for a real idea, I wanted you in on it before deciding on something."

"I believe that we may need to do some research, Miles." Prowl replied, picking up the tiny organic and placing him on his shoulder as he re-activated his data pad so Miles could see the information as well.

And research they did. The two stayed together locked up in that room from a little after breakfast until it was almost dinner time, both skipping lunch in favor of working on their plan. As they were in North America they mainly focused on legends that had started in these lands, researching a lot of Native American folk lore, stories from early settlers, and the like.

No one really wondered where Miles had went to, and Prowl would often stay locked up in his office being what others deemed a 'workaholic'. No one really wondered what happened to Fig after Sideswipe got a hold of him, either. Most of the people who actually worked at NEST were busy cleaning up all the Halloween decorations.

During lunch a lot of people started to remind Sam of what had happened the night before, much to his embarrassment and horror. He had known deep inside that the fake Megatron's and Startscream's had to be fake, but he had still panicked and nearly purged his tanks as the Cybertronians would call it after the fake Megatron had asked him to join in their fake sexcapades.

He glared moodily at Epps when the older man kept bringing it up just to annoy him. It was working perfectly, and it didn't help that he had the worst head ache from the alcohol he had drank the night before. He half wondered if Miles was doing any better as Bumblebee and Barricade joined Sam, Epps, and Mikaela at the table.

"Hey, Bee, do you guys get hangovers?" Sam asked curiously, looking at his guardian's holoform.

"It depends on the amount of high grade they've taken in." The mech replied.

"Ironhide's probably in an extremely bad mood right now." Mikaela said, giggling slightly. Yes, she was a proud teenage girl that could giggle at large alien robots and not be afraid.

Epps snorted, "Good thing we hid all of his ammo then!"

"That'll just make his mood worse." Sam pointed out. "And Miles ratted you out yesterday. Even Will."

"Oh…" Epps softly replied, only just realizing how true that was. "Well, slag."

Barricade snorted, and Bumblebee laughed. "That about sums it up!" The yellow scout said cheerfully, grinning.

About that time Will came into the cafeteria, walking over to them and looking at Epps. "We have to wash the paint off Hide like now if we want to survive. I don't know what he's having Jazz do, and I don't want to know." And with that he simply dragged the Sergeant out with him.

"Still think we should have somehow convinced Hide to dress up as the tooth fairy." Sam stated wistfully.

"When Annabelle gets old enough we can have her help." Bumblebee said, smirking.

Barricade snorted, "Oh how the strong have fallen."

"Oh, you're one to talk." Bumblebee replied, grinning. "Where's your kitty, hmm?"

"How should I know? He's not my pet." Barricade said, glaring at the Autobot.

Sam and Mikaela watched as the two argued back and forth. Sam was somewhat thankful that Miles had up and disappeared after breakfast, he could just see Barricade saying something out of anger that would hurt his friend. Sighing, he got up, tossed away his food, and grabbed Mikaela to drag her out of the room.

They went to the med bay, thinking that Miles may be there, there may be new news about his condition, or they could at least find out what the violent Medic did to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. At some point during the morning the CMO had declared a mech hunt on the two.

"Found Sunny or Sides, yet?" Sam asked, stepping in to the med bay while holding the door for Mikaela. The only two who were already in the med bay was Ratchet himself, and Wheeljack. The place looked like a disaster.

"No." Ratchet replied, sending a brief glare their way. "You two have been assigned to help."

"Let me guess, Sunny and Sides?" Mikaela asked, stepping over a random data pad on the floor.

Ratchet grumbled something under his breath in Cybertronian, nodding slightly to confirm the answer to Mikaela's question.

Sam whistled, "Da-aaamn. They're so going to wish they were in the pit once they're found."

Mikaela laughed, and Wheeljack nodded, causing Ratchet to throw a wrench at the poor inventor. The two teenagers got to work helping Ratchet clean up and reorganize what they could while Wheeljack worked on whatever Ratchet wanted him to work on, threatening him with wrenches if he complained about mistreatment by CMOs.

* * *

><p>Sam groaned, sitting once again in the cafeteria, but for dinner now. It was surprisingly quiet in the room despite all the people, and the occasional Cybertronian in holoform. This was only because Bumblebee and Barricade had continued to fight, and it was steadily escalating in words and in pitch. Some people were still talking, just not caring, or annoyed at the fight. Sam was sitting by Mikaela, dreading the moment that Miles might appear.<p>

"Just admit it you stubborn 'con!" Bumblebee snapped, Barricade having managed to snap his last thread of patience on the topic.

Barricade snarled, "There's nothing to admit, you stupid 'bot! He's just a convenience!"

Mikaela glared at Barricade, looking about ready to yell at the 'con until Sam stopped her, shaking his head. Neither saw Miles and Prowl come into the cafeteria, only to stop dead in their tracks as they heard the fight going on. Anyone else who had kept talking over the two fighting Cybertronians suddenly stopped when they saw the two enter.

Bumbelbee and Barricade kept fighting, out of their seats and leaning across the table to glare at each other as they went back and forth. Miles and Prowl watched this in silence, the teenager shocked and the Cybertronian annoyed at the illogical behavior from the two of his kind, especially Barricade.

Mikaela decided to ignore Sam after awhile more of watching the fight. "Would you two idiots stop it? Miles could come in at any minute! This is the cafeteria for God's sake!"

"You're so slagging ridiculous! You're basically already his Guardian!" Bumblebee exclaimed, pretending not to hear Mikaela.

Mikaela opened her mouth to retort, but heard a gasp from Sam and looked at him to see his gaze elsewhere. She followed the look to see what had made him react like that, only to see Miles and Prowl. She desperately tried to get Barricade's attention him to stop him from replying, but she was too late.

"Get it through that thick metal plating of yours, Autobot! I'm not his Guardian, I'm not his friend! Hell I like Ironhide better than him! He was just a convenience in the time I needed one, I wouldn't even call him a socket! I would never want to be his Guardian!" Barricade snarled, glaring at Bumblebee as the Autobot glared back at him.

"Good, then I can go tell Optimus Prime that I'll be filling the position of Guardian concerning Miles." Prowl cut in, loud enough to be heard by the two as he stood behind Miles.

Barricade and Bumblebee turned to glare at Prowl, about to tell him off for cutting in to their fight, when they noticed Miles standing in front of him. Bumblebee felt almost immediately guilty as he looked at the teen, opening his mouth to say something before deciding against it. He glanced warily at Barricade, noticing the 'con seemed to be shocked. Whether it was that Miles had heard, or it was over what Miles had heard, he wasn't sure. The teenager himself was staring at the two with wide eyes, and Bumblebee tried not to read the emotions in his expression.

"No arguments?" Prowl asked dryly, putting a hand on Miles shoulder and turning the teenager around to face the door. "Excellent." He then proceeded to push Miles out ahead of them, leaving the cafeteria with him.

Once they were out of the cafeteria, Prowl let his holoform disappear, quickly picking Miles up before he could say anything. The teen didn't say anything as the Cybertronian walked to one of the only vending machines on the NEST base. He set Miles down in front of it.

"You're not serious, right?" Miles asked, giving Prowl an incredulous look.

"Once in awhile isn't that bad, and it'll hold you off until we can actually go to the cafeteria without running into those overgrown sparklings." Prowl replied, glancing around for Ratchet.

Miles shrugged, "Can't say I'm going to out right refuse junk food as long as the Hatchet isn't around." He dug in his pockets for his wallet, then fed the machine his money. Glancing over the selection, he quickly chose a bag of cheetos. He leaned against a wall, opening the bag and started to eat. He wasn't going to subject Prowl to crumbs of cheesy goodness.

"I honestly have to say I am surprised over how they acted." Prowl said after a few minutes, watching Miles crumble up the empty bag and toss it in a trash can.

"I find myself hoping that you walking super computers can say stupid things that you don't mean every once in awhile." Miles replied softly, just opting to wipe his hands on his pants.

"Even if you think he didn't mean it, it still has to…" Prowl trailed off, picking Miles up. Cybertronians and humans may be similar emotionally, but that didn't know he meant how to deal with one if they were upset.

"Hurt?" Miles asked. "Well, yeah. But Barricade can be an aft, we all know this. Doesn't make it any better, though." A pause as Miles realized something. "And I'm stuck on base, great."

"You'll be sticking with me anyway." Prowl set Miles on his shoulder, walking away from the

"Does that mean I can cheer myself up by tripping your glitch?" Miles asked, though the usual grin wasn't in place.

Prowl vented softly, "No."

"Aw, but it'd make me happy!" Miles whined, but this got him no response. He huffed, "So what's this about the Guardian thing?"

"What do you mean?" Prowl asked, glancing at the teenager on his shoulder. _Surely_, he thought, _he has to know that Bumblebee is Sam's_.

"Well I… dunno." Miles said. "I always thought it was just a Bumblebee and Ironhide thing because they had actually been with Sam and Will in battle, or something. And like maybe they had defended them? No one ever actually explained it to me.

"Certainly not." Prowl paused, thinking it over. "In the English language there is two meanings to guardian. Like your parents would be your legal guardians, and then the act of actually guarding someone. That is the closest thing we could get to what our guardian means."

Miles glanced at Prowl, "Okaaay, so what does the Cybertronian version of guardian mean?"

Prowl vented softly again, "It is a relationship between one Cybertronian and then one non-Cybertronian. Like Sam and Bumblebee. Through it the charge would become… an 'honorary' Cybertronian, you could say. This way the Guardian wouldn't normally have to worry about the fuss of the other species over their chosen. With your government it helps give us a little bit more lee way with you civilians, which is one reason I plan on telling Optimus I'll become your guardian. It also says that the Cybertronian themselves will very possibly risk their life to save their charge. It is meant to show how close a Cybertronian is to a person of a non-Cybertronian species as we can not bond with other species."

"So it's like a combination of the two English uses?" Miles asked, pausing. "You stupid computers are too confusing."

"The Guardian can take precedence over others concerning the Charge." Prowl continued, ignoring Miles. "Even some of their higher ups. Like Bumblebee would take precedence over me concerning Sam, and I wouldn't have a say if he wanted to take Sam somewhere that I didn't agree with. However, Optimus Prime and Ratchet would be able to tell him no."

"This sounds a bit like…" Miles trailed off, sure Prowl would understand.

"Most Cybertronians, like Bumblebee, let the Charge have a large say in their relationship. A Cybertronian pet, or slave, is a…" He hesitated, remembering Barricade had used the word. "A socket."

"Oh." Miles replied, then paused. "Oh." He repeated as he remembered where he had heard it.

Prowl nodded, deciding that path didn't need to be gone down just yet. "Some other reasons I would like to be your guardian are that I do need to get better acquainted with this planet, and you can explain anything I don't understand. We'll be spending a lot of time together because of this new 'alliance' anyway, so people will just chalk it up to us being a new bonded pair. Out of all the humans I've spent the most time with you, and if anything you help me with my glitch because I have to adjust to how illogical you can be."

"If you want to sign yourself up for your early demise, be my guest, Prowler." Miles said, grinning. "But don't use bonded pair again. Sound like we're dating or something."

"I'll try not to." He said dryly, narrowing his optics.

* * *

><p>It was surprisingly easy to start their plan against the twins after Prowl told Optimus that he would be Miles' Guardian. Optimus had just agreed, figuring his SIC had his reasons, and when he asked Miles the teen said it was fine. So when Prowl suggested having a military camping trip to teach Miles how to survive out in the wild, as well as Sam if he wanted, the suggestion was taken and looked at. It was decided that the suggestion would be done, and they could tell the school that the military was in the process of teaching the two and hopefully get them off the hook for a bit.<p>

Miles wasn't quite sure how Prowl managed to ge the twins to go, but he did. In truth, Optimus wanted two extra mechs along for safety measures, and decided to do something akin to pulling names out of a hat, which Prowl then rigged.

On the days leading up to the camping trip, Miles and Prowl planned and gathered supplies. Prowl would be going a day ahead of time to search the area for anything significantly dangerous, like Decepticons, and would be setting up the beginnings of the plan. Miles also avoided Barricade, which worked well, since Barricade was working on avoiding Miles, too. After Sam had chewed them both out, Bumblebee had apologized to Miles for starting the whole mess. Miles had accepted the apology, and smiled.

While Sam had opted out of the camping trip, mainly so he could try to talk to Barricade, Will and Ironhide were going to be there as well.

It was a week in to November when they finally went on the trip. They had had to find a forest where most of the trees would be taller than the Cybertronians. Miles had rode up in Ironhide with Will since Prowl was already at their selected camping spot waiting for them. It didn't take long at all for the Captain to show Miles how to pitch a tent, and best set up the logs to start a fire. Once he was done Miles went to Prowl, and Prowl suggested that the twins go looking for some more firewood. Will and Ironhide agreed, and the twins were sent away. Will and Ironhide went to hunt, fish, or whatever they planned to do to collect food, leaving Miles and Prowl to keep the fire going.

"How's it gonna go down?" Miles asked softly, speaking lowly just in case anyone might come back.

"I have a holoform there waiting for them. You'll be able to watch later when we get back to base. I might be a bit out of it, but if Ironhide and Will get back sooner than I do then just tell them I went into a light recharge." Prowl instructed, leaning against a tough tree.

Miles nodded. He waited for awhile, ploking at the fire and throwing random things in it to see how they burned. Prowl eventually sat upright again, but didn't say anything just yet. Miles looked at him curiously, deciding it best not to say anything if Prowl wasn't. He heard the twins coming before he saw them, the nanobots already having succeeded in making his hearing slightly better, as well as how well he could see during the night. He watched with a bit of amusement as they raced into the clearing where camp was set up.

"Prowl-!" Sideswipe began, only to be cut off by Sunstreaker.

"There was this thing, and then we destroyed this thing, and then something happened! And Sideswipe scratched my paint!" Sunstreaker exclaimed.

Miles put a hand over his mouth to keep from snorting. He enjoyed the description that Sunstreaker gave, but Prowl just acted annoyed.

"If you destroyed something attempt to go fix it, at least." Prowl stated, not even looking at them.

"But we think we made something angry!" Sideswipe protested.

Miles put on a worried face, "There was someone there who saw you? We can't have you guys being found out just yet."

"No, no one saw us!" Sunstreaker cut in, stopping Sideswipe before he could say something. "We aren't stupid enough for that."

"Then what did you make angry?" Prowl asked.

The twins looked at eachother, then back to Prowl. "We don't know!" They exclaimed together.

Miles tried not to grin, knowing it was his turn to further the prank. "What did you destroy?"

"It'll be easier if we show you." Sideswipe said, picking Miles up and holding him as Sunstreaker activated a very basic hologram of where they had been and what they had destroyed.

Miles frowned, "That lookes Native American to me, must have been there for awhile. Sam and me had to learn about them in elementary school." Which wasn't a lie, they had learned about Native Americans way back then. "I can't remember what that thing is called, or what tribe had it, but there was a legend that whoever destroyed one would be cursed by the spirtits." He laughed. "I always enjoyed Native American legends, they were so inventive." He pretended not to notice Sunstreaker and Sideswipe look at eachother with wide optics.

"You don't think any of it's true, do you?" Sideswipe asked tentavily.

"The legends? Oh no, I don't believe a word of them. Some, like this one, could be pretty gruesome, though." Miles replied as Sideswipe set him back down.

The twins silently conversed with eachother over their private comm link as Miles scrambled up Prowl's leg and sat so he was leaning against his some of Prowl's chest plates.

"Do you think you could get us that information you researched, Miles?" Sideswipe finally asked.

Sunstreaker cut in quickly, "Those odd ancestors of yours have gotten our interest." Coudln't seem like they were afraid or might think they were targeted by a curse.

"Sure." Miles said, glancing up at Prowl with the barest of smirks. Phase B would be planned and put into action soon.


	17. Nonsentient cars are so last year

**AN: So Miles will be getting a non-sentient car! Yay!**

_Holen-Snape:_ Still a secret so far! Happy you enjoy my story, and thanks for the review. ;)  
><em><span>Autobot Firekat:<span>_ Mwahaha. That is all.  
><em>writergurl616:<em> Have you ever watched Transformers:Animated? I think if Cyber ninja Prowl was put up against the twins he'd definetely kick ass a lot more concerning them.  
><em><span>LionLover190:<span>_ I'm not sure it's so much a brank as it is just messing with their minds anymore, haha. But they're compiling a video for embarrassment to show the others.  
><em><span>Bookworm Gal:<span>_ Barricade can certainly put his foot in his mouth sometimes, and concerning the plan with the twins, all will be revealed soon. MAYBE.  
><em><span>Rockubyebaby:<span>_ That's fine, thanks for finally reviewing! I'm glad you like my story! :)  
><em><span>Fk306 animelover:<span>_ Rachet/Mikaela Guardian and or friendship fluff? Hmm, maaaybeee. I do think Ratchet needs some helping hands, human wise. I also like Maggie/Ratchet friendship fluff, though.

* * *

><p>They had just returned from the camping trip, and Miles was on the phone with his parents. Despite the fact that they could get connection because of the 'bots with them Will had said no because in a real experience if he didn't have a 'bot around he wouldn't have a connection. Prowl walked in to the human rec-room, seeing Bumblebee, Sam, Barricade, Jazz, and Epps.<p>

Barricade sat in a lazy boy, while the other four were sitting on a couch, Jazz and Bumblebee competing in Mario Kart. Epps and Sam cheered their preferred 'bots on as Prowl walked closer, standing beside the couch. Miles soon came into the room, shoving the phone back into his pocket. Unknowingly he was scrutinized by Barricade and Sam respectively. They both noticed the odd look on his face, like he was torn between amusement and disbelief.

"What's up, buddy?" Sam asked, pretending not to notice the way Barricade tensed up as Miles moved closer to all of them.

"Sam…" For a moment he looked at a loss of words, not even glancing at Barricade. "I need you to teach me how to drive."

For a moment everyone froze, Epps and Sam looking at Miles with wide disbelieving eyes. Bumblebee quickly paused the game, joining Jazz in giving Miles an incredulous look. Prowl and Barricade looked torn between slight amusement and confusion.

"Wait, what?" Sam asked stupidly, continuing to stare at his friend.

Miles rolled his eyes, "My parents got me a car. Like the non-sentient kind. And you know what sucks? We both wanted cars so bad, but they pale in comparison to having a giant alien robot as a chauffeur. And since I've always been chauffeured instead of actually driving them, I just never learned. My parents think I know because I told them Officer Ticon was letting me drive his patrol car one time."

Sam had at least known how to drive before Bumblebee had revealed himself, having driven the mech home and with Mikaela inside of him. It made sense that Barricade and Prowl had never bothered letting Miles actually take control of them before, mainly because he knew they were alive and had no problem letting them do the work.

"You never told us you didn't know how to drive, Miles." Prowl said, slightly surprised. He had never imagined that the teenager hadn't learned just yet.

"Well it seemed kind of… personal, I guess. I've only ever been in the driver's seat of moving Cybertronians, never a non-sentient car unless it was stationary. I mean, I would technically be in control of your body in a way, even if you could take control back easily it would still be weird." He replied, pausing for a moment as he thought. "I've mainly only been behind the wheel of you and Barricade. Once with Bumblebee when he brought me to see Blurr. All of those times you guys just drive."

Sam glanced between the Decepticon neutral and his best human friend, noticing how he had said the 'cons full name instead of his affectionate nickname for Barricade. He tried not to sigh, realizing his friend was going to stay angry unless Barricade himself talked to him, and he wasn't sure if the mech would do that any time soon. For now, at least, it would seem like the two's relationship would stay uneasily at the edge of a metaphorical cliff.

"I believe none of us would mind teaching you if you asked." Prowl replied, Bumblebee and Jazz nodding at his statement.

"I don't know about that." Epps said, an amused grin on his face. "That'd be worse than a back seat driver. A driver that's all around you and could get pissed if you do something wrong badly enough to get them dented, or could just decide to kill you."

"I highly doubt any of us would yell or threaten him." Prowl retorted, then glanced at Barricade as if he was a last minute thought. "Well, most of us, anyway."

Barricade scowled, and Epps continued on as if Prowl hadn't said anything. "Still. Just the knowledge that you're sorta in control of another's body could freak the kid out, not to mention over half of you would baby him and not tell him if he does something wrong."

Miles finally spoke up again, voicing his own opinion. "I agree with Epps on this one, I'd like to learn with a non-sentient car."

"Non-sentient cars are dangerous." Bumblebee said, surprising Jazz and Epps by speaking up at all over the matter.

"I can't believe I'm saying it, but I agree with the insect and tight ass here." Barricade said, adding his own two cents.

Sam laughed, "And you guys are safe? Some how I think we could find more interesting ways for a Cybertronian to kill a human on accident, never even going near on purpose, compared to a car where it'd be running over the person or they were in an accident."

Bumblebee was about to protest, but Jazz cut him off. "Ah agree with tha squishies, Bee and Prowler. Ah think they should both learn with non-sentient vehicles."

"Ha!" Miles grinned triumphantly. "That's four against you and Prowl, I think we win."

Whether he purposefully or accidentally left Barricade out Sam couldn't tell, so he just shook his head. "Did they say what kind of car they got you?"

"No, but I heard mom muttering in the back ground about it being a metal death trap. Kind of like Judy when your dad got you Bee." Miles replied, still grinning.

Bumblebee made an indignant sound. "I was not a metal death trap, thank you!"

"Even I have to admit you looked like one, Bee." Sam said laughing.

"For all the world it seems like you guys like to look good. Holoforms, your vehicle alt mode of choice. Except your first one, Bee. Every time I think of that it just ruins the whole idea." Miles teased, smirking.

Bumblebee huffed, "I'm never taking either of you anywhere again."

"Miles will have his own car, so if you hold out on me I won't need you!" Sam said, laughing.

"Ohh, gonna be cheated on with a non-sentient, Bee. How does tha' make ya feel?" Jazz asked, smirking.

Bumblebee grumbled under his breath, but didn't give them a reply. Epps and Jazz snickered.

"If it makes you feel any better, non-sentients are soooo last year." Miles drawled, grinning. "I have half the mind to call my parents up and demand a Cybertronian instead."

Sam snickered, "Hey, maybe your new car will pull a Bee."

"Primus, I hope not." Miles replied, laughing. "I still remember that phone call you gave me! You sounded insane. Besides, there's enough of you Cybertronians running around as it is."

"That was when I thought Bee was pulling a Christine or Satan's Camaro, not giant alien robot from outer space." Sam grumbled good naturedly.

Miles laughed, "See, you were worried your first car was alive and what to do about it. I'm going to be worried about mine not being alive and what to do about it. Find myself treating it like a Cybertronian, probably talk to it and name it."

"You gotta bring it here so we can help you name it! Maybe we could even use it to haze the newbies. Say it's like that Mountain Dew Dispensor thing and it's extremely sensitive since it can only be a car and that's it." Epps said, grinning.

"Hey, there's one thing you should be thankful for." Bumblebee cut in, laughing lightly. "'Cade never opened the door for you so you aren't used to that. I've seen Will get angry at a non-sentient car for not opening the door until he remembered it was non-sentient."

Miles snorted, "Ha, I remember that! And I'll always buckle. Barricade very rarely buckled me up, but he'd always remind me to because it's the law."

"Tha only trouble ya might' 'ave is following' the speed limit." Jazz said, grinning.

"Yeah, you guys definitely have issues obeying those." Sam replied, laughing. "I actually think it'd be good if we have a crash course on non-sentient cars for those who have been around the Cybertronians the longest."

"Everyone in NEST is going to be so screwed up with non-sentient cars. I know I treat mine like it's alive. Haven't named it just yet, thankfully." Epps added, turning off the game Jazz and Bumblebee were playing.

"My dad and me can teach you when we go back home." Sam said, then paused at he glanced at Miles' ears. "Well, when you return home. Or get a hat that covers those things effectively."

"Speaking of those, are the nanobots doing anything?" Epps asked. "I asked the Hatchet but he said patient doctor confidentiality bullshit."

"I can see in the dark better, and I think my hearing's getting a little better." Miles replied, shrugging. "Maybe some other crap. If there's a nice sunny spot that I'm in I tend to get sleepy for a cat nap."

"Personally I'm hoping you at least keep the ears. They make you look so cute." Sam teased, grinning when Miles glared at him.

Miles huffed, "I'll make sure to tell Wheeljack to make you a pair then."

Epps snickered, "Order a pair for Will too, would you? I'd love to see Sarah's face when she saw 'em."

"Maybe it'll spice up their sex life. Have him as a big strong lion." Miles replied, grinning as Sam and Epps burst out laughing.

"I remember the first time Ironhide heard them doing it. He panicked because he thought Will was hurting her and had gone insane, so he transformed and broke open the window. Needless to say he got the birds and the bees talk, and was thus banned to the end of the driveway for a month." Epps said lowly, glancing around to make sure Ironhide or Will were no where in sight.

Miles started to crack up, and Sam just continued to laugh. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker came into the rec-room, quickly going over to Miles. They looked slightly uncomfortable, and just grabbed Miles by the arm, attempting to drag him out.

"Hey, what?" Miles asked, confused for a brief second.

"We need that information." Sideswipe stated.

"What? Oh!" Miles exclaimed, looking to see Prowl winking at him. "I was busy talking! Can't it wait?"

"No." Sunstreaker growled, dragging Miles out of the room.

Barricade looked to Prowl, "What the slag was that about?"

"Nothing important." Prowl stated.

"Nothing important my aft. It's the twins, they don't kidnap people for no reason." Barricade replied with a growl.

"I'm his Guardian, Barricade." Prowl drawled. "And I'm not worried about it. So you shouldn't be either. Now if you'll all excuse me, I have work to do." He quickly left, not bothering to look to see what his words may have done.

Sam winced when he heard Barricade snarl, looking at the 'con to say something only to watch him disappear out of sight. He sighed, "How quickly do you think this thing will work out?"

"Decepticon stubbornness going up against a stubborn teenager?" Epps asked, shrugging. "Don't have a slaggin' clue." The otheres nodded their heads in agreement.

* * *

><p>Days passed and Miles finally got the ears and tail removed, and was put on minimal activity just in case it had any repercussions. He was thankful for their removal, but Ratchet hadn't been able to figure out anything for the nanobots yet. He didn't mind them as much since their effects weren't so visible, and he told Ratchet not to worry about them since they did benefit him slightly.<p>

It was a late Saturday night, horror movie night, and Sam, Miles, Mikaela, Maggie, Will, Epps, Jazz, Bumblebee, Blurr, Barricade, Prowl, and Ironhide were in the human rec-room, watching Dawn of the Dead. Sam and Mikaela were sitting side by side with Bumblebee at their feet, Miles was in between Blurr and Prowl, and Will, Maggie, Epps, Jazz, and Ironhide sat on one couch together. Most of them were surprised when Sunstreaker and Sideswipe burst in to the room.

"Barricade, Prowl! Miles, he-" Sunstreaker started, but Sideswipe cut him off.

"He just died! We couldn't even do anything!" Sideswipe exclaimed. Both sounded slightly hysterical.

"Primus damn it!" Miles said, causing the two to notice him and stare at him in shock. "I forgot all about dying and you two not being able to do anything about it! You slaggers!"

They stared at him in shock. "But you-! But-!" They said as one.

Barricade glared at the two. "Miles has been with us all day." They might not be on talking terms, but that didn't mean they hadn't been in each other's company. Even if the two weren't currently talking a lot of people, and Cybertronians, treated Barricade as his Guardian, usually forgetting about Prowl for the most part.

"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, what do you hope to achieve with this lie?" Prowl asked, ignoring the grin Miles gave him.

"But we're not! He really did!" They protested together.

"Get it on video? There's cameras in every hall, and on the outside of the buildings." Maggie said, not jumping to their defense, but not disbelieving them either.

"Yeah!" They exclaimed, grabbing Miles and practically carrying him out of the room. "We'll show you that you did!"

"I don't want to see that!" Miles protested weakly, knowing he had no chance of escaping one, let alone both of them. He sent a pleading look over his shoulder, though it was mostly aimed at Prowl, who he was sure had gotten him into this.

Sam, Prowl, Barricade, and Bumblebee got up and followed the twins as they carried Miles down the hall between them. They walked to the control room, Prowl taking over and asking the twins where and when. He accessed the file and brought up the recording, playing it until it suddenly went white with static. They could still hear the twins as they were shocked, though.

"Oh, haha. Very nice, you guys." Sam said sarcastically, ready to turn to glare at them but stopped when the recording fuzzed out slightly and showed the blurry shapes of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe in bipedal form with a smaller shape near them. "Used a holoform to stay consistent, cool."

"But, we didn't… it was…" They weakly protested.

Miles shared a look with Prowl before turning back to the twins. "That's almost funny. I would be laughing if you would have used what I told you on Sam, but he doesn't remember it that much anyway."

Sam only knew that Miles was messing with the twins, but not that Prowl was involved too. He made a face, "Bee would freak out so badly on your afts."

Sunstreaker snorted, "We wouldn't fake your death. We'd really kill you." Sideswipe nodded in agreement.

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say because Bumblebee proceeded to chase both of them out of the room, yelling half hearted threats after him. Sam snickered, watching as Miles leaned up against Prowl and whispered in his holoform's ear. He noticed Barricade watching the interaction, too. He knew it was probably over whatever Miles was doing to mess with the twins, but he was fairly sure Barricade didn't.

"Okay, you have got to show me what the slag you did to them, and tell me how! You were with me the whole time!" Miles hissed softly into Prowl's ear, barely speaking at all knowing that Prowl would be able to pick it up.

Prowl grinned slightly, "Patience. We have company."

"That sounds… wrong." Sam said, desperately trying not to laugh.

Miles made a look before grinning. "Jealous, Samual?"

"You know it, babe." Sam replied, laughing. Prowl gave them both a look and left the room, muttering just loud enough for them to hear him complaining about illogical human teenagers. They both laughed.

Miles looked at Sam and winked. "Don't worry, I'll show you the video once we're done putting it all together." He said before chasing after Prowl.

Sam looked to Barricade, "Is it just my teenage mind, or does everything sound slightly sexual lately?"

"It's just you." Barricade growled, leaving the room.


	18. Me Grimlock hate Fish Go

**AN: Yes, I bring you the dinobots! I changed their origins a bit. Wheeljack created their bodies based off of Earth's dinosaurs, and then used the All spark shard to give them life. Pretty simple, right? I may or may not have plans to include Blaster and another person later on. **

_Bookworm Gal:_ Not so much a winner as a desperate loser, haha. And patience is a virtue!  
><em><span>Autobot Firekat:<span>_ May be slash, idk. Haven't decided.  
><em><span>Fk306 animelover:<span>_ Sam's a teenager. He has an excuse!  
><em><span>writergurl616:<span>_ I love A!Prowl so much. And his car's not alive, I'm not doing that. But I do have some plans for other things to bring another person into the group  
><em><span>LionLover190:<span>_ UPDATE GRANTED!  
><em><span>The Result of Squffie:<span>_ I like OP/B but in animated. Idk if I'll have it in this one, but maybe. It would certainly have some drama if I added Elita One into the mix with her being Blackarachnia!

**Go-Go's Vacation is the song that Bee plays lyrics from at the very end.**

* * *

><p>Miles sighed, glaring up at Sam's bedroom ceiling. After the ears and tail had been removed he was quickly sent back home to catch up on the school work he had missed, but somehow it just didn't hold the appeal of spending the day with beings older than your planet. Sam was sitting at his computer, on the chat network for the NEST base. It wasn't AIM, nor MSN, it was something entirely different. They called it NBEC as a joke. Non-biological Extraterrestrial Chatting. Someone had even taken NBE-1 as a username until Optimus forced them to get rid of it. Only those connected to NEST with high clearance could access it outside of the NEST base.<p>

Miles car was out sitting at the curb, thankfully non-sentient. He had spent an hour just checking out the inside for a Decepticon or Autobot insignia. When he didn't find one he got out and talked to the hood. When he didn't have an answer he assumed it wasn't alive, but he made sure to have Bumblebee scan it just in case. Bumblebee confirmed that it was just a regular car.

"Hey Miles, get over here. Ratchet has a job for us!" Sam called to his friend, scooting away from the computer a bit so Miles could see the screen too. Miles came over and quickly peered at the screen.

**Wrench_Medic: Samual, I require your assistance.**  
><strong><span>LadiesMan217:<span> Yeah? Miles is here too. He in?**  
><strong><span>Wrench_Medic:<span> That is fine.**  
><strong><span>LadiesMan217:<span> Okay, he's looking. What's up?**  
><strong><span>Wrench_Medic:<span> Wheeljack's been acting oddly. I'm sure it involves work because he's been getting less and less recharge time in, however he's leaving the base. It's not at the lab, and I do not know where he is going. He can tell if another 'bot is coming up on him.**  
><strong><span>LadiesMan217:<span> Whatcha want us to do?**  
><strong><span>Wrench_Medic:<span> As Miles car is non-sentient he would not be able to sense it tracking him as well. He'd notice it if it was close enough, yes, but if you stay far enough back it should work.**  
><strong><span>LadiesMan217:<span> (Miles typing) First off, still say you should've gone for theHatchet on here, but whatev. Second off, ask the twins if they still have those trackers.**  
><strong><em>-Wrench_Medic is away<em>  
><em>-Wrench_Medic has returned<em>**  
><strong><span>Wrench_Medic:<span> They say they do, those little fraggers.**  
><strong><span>LadiesMan217:<span> (Miles typing) Hey, don't get pissy at them just yet. They'll help us find out where Wheeljack's going. Tell them to plant it on him.**  
><strong><span>Wrench_Medic:<span> Affirmative.**  
><strong><span>LadiesMan217:<span> We'll let Wheeljack go for three times, make sure he's always going to the same place. Then we'll wait till he leaves and then go to that place ourselves in Sasha.**  
><strong><span>Wrench_Medic:<span> Sasha?**  
><strong><span>LadiesMan217:<span> (Miles typing) My car. Scrubs reference. You should watch that show, it's based on human medicine. I think you'd love it.**  
><strong><span>Wrench_Medic:<span> Oh. Perhaps I will give it a try. Thank you, I'll send the information to you after it's been collected each time. Have a nice night.**  
><em><strong>-Wrench_Medic has logged off<strong>_

Sam leaned back in the computer chair, grinning up at Miles. "Scrubs? Really?"

Miles shrugged, "I like the show. Spread the love."

"What do you think Jack's up to?" Sam asked, logging off NBEC before Bumblebee realized he'd be staying up past 'bedtime' and not getting the eight hours of sleep he needed. The Autobot could find other ways to annoy him to go to sleep, but he'd handle those later.

"Frag if I know, man. It's Jack. His last big project ended up giving me cat ears and tail." Miles replied. "I'm almost afraid to find out. It's Tuesday so if they get it on by tonight or tomorrow morning we should be good to go Friday or Saturday."

Sam opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped as a car horn blared loudly. He opened his window and leaned out. "It's guys night, Bee. We're not going to sleep! That's lame!"

Bumblebee only honked his horn again in reply, and Miles snickered. "Remeber when you were up for about three nights straight because you had that major math test that counted for most of your grade? I had come over half because Mikaela had sent me to try to annoy you to bed, and half to help you to study." Miles inquired, grinning.

Sam sighed, "Yeah. Bee got his holoform out and manhandled me into bed, then held me there until I gave in and fell asleep."

"I really don't think he'd be against doing that again." Miles stated. "And they can make more then one at a time. I don't feel like being mahandled by _your_ Autobot."

Sam got up out of the chair and headed for his bed, then paused. "Wait, they can? Since when?"

"Since always, apparently. They just don't because it takes up too much energy to have two holoforms that can feel, smell, touch, etc. It's easier to have a holoform and hologram, but even that's supposedly over doing it." Miles replied, grabbing his pajama pants out of his back pack and putting them on.

"So is that what Prowl did to the twins?" Sam asked, changing into his own pajamas.

"Hologram wise, yeah." Miles said, then proceeded to jump on to Sam's bed and fight his friend for it. They only stopped when Bee honked his horn again.

* * *

><p>They had gotten everything ready on Friday as they waited for the last report from Ratchet. He had gone to the same place twice already, and he went to the same place on Friday, too. It was a couple of hours away, a place in Nevada that actually had a bit of forest to it. The surrounding area where he had stopped was deserted, nothing but old factory buildings sitting there. Ratchet had promised to set Wheeljack to work on something that would last him awhile, and make sure he wouldn't go to wherever he was going to Saturday night. Due to that Miles and Sam set out just before sunset in 'Sasha' telling Bumblebee they'd call if anything strange happened.<p>

They figured out quickly that wherever they were going wasn't going to have civilization anywhere near it, so they stopped and ate dinner. After that it didn't take them too long to find where Wheeljack had been going, a huge abandoned factory that looked like it had seen better days. There were several buildings, actually. Though the one in the middle was the biggest, so they decided to start there. They entered it, stumbling around blindly and cursing because neither of them thought to bring a flashlight. Miles was using his phone to illuminate his path, and he figured Sam would be smart enough to do the same until he heard a loud thump and cussing.

"Slag!" Sam cussed, scrambling back up. "I tripped over... a wire? It was plugged into the wall."

"Not plugged in anymore." Miles said, shrugging. "Doubt it's important, it's just a plug."

Sam shrugged as well, and they continued searching for anything that might turn the lights on. They both froze when they heard a loud roar, and several loud thumps. They looked at eachother with wide eyes, both trying to think of what they could have just heard.

"We really need to find those lights. Or get the fuck outta dodge!" Miles exclaimed, and Sam nodded. Miles took the lead, looking for anything that looked like it might turn on the lights. He was praying for a light switch, but if he saw any levers or buttons he tried those, too. He didn't notice when Sam stopped following him until he heard Sam squeak.

"Miles?" Sam squeaked, and it could really only be defined as that. High pitched, laced with fear and sounding befuddled.

Miles turned around quickly just as a large dark shape grabbed Sam, and Sam screamed. He couldn't tell what it was from the distance and lack of light, but he raced to try to aid his friend. He watched as the thing spread it's wings and flew up, breaking through the ceiling with Sam screaming the whole way.

"SAM!" Miles yelled, but it was useless. He stared up at the whole in the ceiling where the thing had flown out with Sam, trying to think of anything he could do to help his friend. There was no way he could follow the thing, it was long gone and he wasn't even that fast.

He realized with a shock that he was alone, totally and completely. Sam had been taken by some thing, and needed help, but Miles had no idea what to do. He had never felt so afraid, alone, and unsure in his life, not even when facing Soundwave and his cassetticons. At least then he had people he trusted and new well, people he knew that could and would take a bullet for him. Now he had no one but himself, and he was just a weak little human. Not even military strong or smart.

He felt himself try to panic, and tried to shove the emotion aside as he thought of anyway to help Sam. He looked around for anything to use, freezing when his somewhat heightened hearing picked up on movement outside the factory. He heard the same roar that he and Sam had heard before, and something slam into the factory wall as if it was trying to break in. He ran.

* * *

><p><em>Two hours later, at the Nevada base<em>

Barricade, Prowl, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Jazz, Ironhide, Will, and Epps were in the Autobot rec-room. Ratchet had called all of them in because they were the ones most likely to recieve a call from Sam or Miles if anything came up, minus Jazz and Ironhide. They were there because Will and Epps were the ones likely to recieve a call. Ratchet had pulled rank and forced Wheeljack to get some recharge. Right now they were gossiping, having nothing else to do at this time of night.

"Woah, the Allspark shard was seriously missing?" Epps asked, sitting on Jazz's leg. All of the Cybertronians were in their bipedal forms for once.

Prowl nodded, "It was. The footage had been tampered with and whoever took it left no traces behind. They returned it soon after, however."

"How long ago was this?" Ironhide growled, Will sitting on his shoulder.

"A few days. Optimus and I saw no need to have everybody panic if it had been returned. We checked it, and it is the same Allspark shard we originally had." Prowl replied.

Ratchet narrowed his optics at Prowl. "What's the 'but'?"

Prowl hesitated a moment before answering. "It's weaker. Like some of the energy it contained has been used on something. We can't tell what."

"So ya saying that it's been taken, used, then returned? Ah think if it had been the Decepticons they woulda kept it." Jazz said, offering them a bit of hope.

Barricade nodded, "I agree with Jazz. We never would have returned it if it was one of mine."

"So that means an Autobot took it." Will stated, slipping of Ironhide's shoulder.

"At least we don't have to worry about tall, evil, and fugly then!" Epps added cheerfully.

They fell silent for awhile, some of them thinking about who could have taken it and why, and others just thankful that it didn't seem to have been used to revive Megatron. Barricade was lost in his own thoughts, so he didn't notice the first time an in coming call warning popped up. By the time he did it was too late to answer, and he cursed out loud in Cybertronian drawing the other's attention to him.

"Miles just called me, but I missed it." Barricade growled, glaring at all of them. He was surprised Miles had actually called him. He was even more surprised when it happened a second time seconds later. He quickly picked up, putting Miles on the Cybertronian version of speaker phone so everyone could hear him.

"Barry?" They all heard, surprised by how panicked and breathless Miles sounded. "Thank God you picked up! We need help, they got Sam!"

Ratchet moved closer to Barricade quickly, the Decepticon immediately making it so the Medic could be heard by Miles for fear of a wrench being tossed at him. "Miles, what's going on? Who's got Sam?"

"I don't kn-!" They heard Miles start to say, then freeze as something was knocked over in the back ground. Miles stayed silent, and they all did too, worried that anything they might say would only make it worse. Barricade hacked into Miles phone, altering it from even so far away to pick up on sound better. They soon heard Miles panicked breathing, and the sound of something moving around. They heard a loud bang as something else was knocked over closer to where Miles was, and Miles suddenly scream.

"Miles? Miles, are you okay?" Barricade called, but they could tell it was useless. From what they could hear it sounded as if Miles was running, phone still in his hand, as something chased after him.

Bumblebee moved closer to Barricade and Ratchet, looking as panicked and worried as a Cybertronian could get. "They have Sam? I knew I shouldn't have let hem go alone!"

Ratchet shook his head, "This is my fault. I was the one who asked them to go." Regret laced his voice as he spoke. He didn't think it would be dangerous. The boys knew better then to go near anything that was explosive.

"Shut up!" Barricade hissed at them, and they could hear Miles come to a stop, breathing hard. They were relieved when Miles put the phone near his mouth again.

"I don't know what these things are! I think there's three, but-" A pause as they heard him move around. "What do I do? Oh God, I don't have any idea! The one's been chasing me for forever now, I was able to pull off some tricks but now all I can do is run as it breaks through things! And the other-! It took Sam, just flew away with him!"

The room was silent as Miles fell silent on the other end. Prowl was trying to think of anything that could help the boy, but he had no idea what he was going up against. None of them had tried to move from the room yet, knowing by the time they got there it would probably be too late.

"Sam's alive! I can hear him yelling!" He sounded happy and relieved for that split second, and then the tone changed to slightly hysterical as the realization put with the situation sunk in. "Oh God, he's _YELLING_! They're doing something to him! I'm in some room and there's no way out but one door, but I think one of them is out there! I can't get to him!"

Barricade put on his best calming tone, one that he very rarely used and that few very rarely heard. "Miles, listen to me. We'll be there as soon as we can. Do anything you have to to stay hidden, don't try to find Sam. Don't leave the room you're in."

There was silence for a moment, until they heard something loud crash into something metal. It wasn't hard to guess that whatever had been chasing Miles was now trying to break into the room, as they could hear Miles give an almost inaudible whimper.

"Barry-!" Another loud crash. "It's trying to get in, Barry! Oh God, what do I do?" A third loud crash, and this time they heard something give a loud crack. "Barry, Barry, I'm so sorry!" A fourth crash, and they heard what they presumed to be the door or the wall hit the ground. Miles screaming as they hear a loud roar. "GET AWAY, DO-!". The phone being dropped, and then nothing as the line went dead.

Everyone was shocked into silence for a second, before Barricade turned into his alt mode and raced out of the room. Bumblebee was quick to follow, and the only ones left behind were Will and Epps.

* * *

><p>Barricade and Bumblebee were the first to arrive at the secluded abonded factory place. Ratchet, Jazz, Prowl, and Ironhide were quick to follow, all changing into their bipedal forms. Prowl was about to say something, about to devise a plan, but he was ignored. Barricade and Bumblebee walked right in, Bumblebee's weapons charged up and Barricade with his claws. He hadn't bothered to even stop and get his weapons. The other four followed them, but they all stopped when something swooped down from the sky and landed in front of them. They all looked at the thing in slight shock as it spread it's wings in a threatening manner.<p>

"Is that... Is that a fucking dinosaur?" Ironhide was the first to ask, staring at the robotic dinosaur look alike.

"It doesn't matter! This is the thing that took Sam!" Bumblebee growled, aiming his cannon at the thing and shooting. The first shot missed, and they were surprised when the thing started to cower away from them. Bumblebee charged up his cannon for another shot, aiming again, but stopping when he heard a yell.

"BUMBLEBEE!" They heard Sam yell, and were more than surprised to see the teenager come running up and standing in front of the robotic dinosaur look alike. They watched as it attempted to cower behind him ineffectively, it being over half Sam's size. Sam put his hands on his hips, glaring up at his Guardian. "You put that cannon away right now!"

Bumblebee immediately listened to his Charge, happy to see Sam alive. They watched as Sam turned around and cooed at the thing, stroking one of it's wings and trying to get it to stop cowering.

"Aw, look what you did! You scared Swoop!" Sam said, continuing to try to comfort Swoop.

"Samual, what is that?" Ratchet asked, reaching towards Sam to pick him up and check for injuries. He stopped when Swoop immediately stepped in front of Sam to guard him.

Sam laughed, "It's okay Swoop, they're friends. This is Swoop. Me and Miles have nicknamed him and his brothers the Dinobots. I'm pretty sure he's a Pteranodon."

"What the frag is going on around here?" Ironhide demanded, glaring at Swoop.

"I'll take you guys to Miles, Grimlock, and Snarl." Sam replied, letting Swoop pick him up. He patted Swoop's head. "Come on, Swoop. Let's go see the others."

They followed Swoop as he led them inside what they assumed to be the main building. They entered a large room to see Miles sitting in front of a larg robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Triceratops. Swoop paused there, and they all looked closely as the Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex appeared to be trying to hold some type of cards. They kept falling out of their hands, and eventually the Tyrannosaurus Rex seemed to have enough of it, tossing his cards down. Miles didn't even bat an eye lash.

"Me Grimlock HATE FISH GO!" The Tyrannosaurus Rex all but roared, causing Sam and Miles to wince at the level as Grimlock stood up, slamming his tail on the ground.

"Grimmy!" Miles said in an admonishing tone. "What did I tell you about using your inside voice? And it's Go Fish, not Fish Go."

Grimlock seemed to lose his anger quickly, sitting back down as he sulked. "Me Grimlock sorry."

"It's alright, Grimmy. Just try not to do it again." Miles soothed, patting Grimlock's side. He finally noticed Sam and Swoop with the others, grinning. "Hey guys! About time you showed up. We were running low on junk food to keep us awake."

Sam nodded, "No way are we going to bed before these oversized sparklings." His tone was affectionate as he moved closer, picking up the cards that Grimlock and Snarl had dropped.

"Ah don't think I get what's goin' down. Someone care to explain it to meh?" Jazz asked, Ironhide nodding beside him.

"Well, as you know Ratchet asked us to sneak here to see what Wheeljack was up to. This is it apparently. We accidentally woke them up, for the first time ever according to Grimmy here, and they were curious and frightened. Swoop grabbed Sam, and they quickly worked things out. However, I was stuck with Grimlock and Snarl. These guys don't seem to be the smartest, or maybe it's because they're so young, but either way they gave chase because they see this as their territory if they woke up here. I heard Sam yelling because he and Swoop were trying to get their attention. Oh, and Grimlock stepped on my phone after I dropped it. Think the government will reimburse me on that? Mom'll be pissed. That's the second phone this year." Miles explained to them, taking the cards from Sam.

"We do have one question ourselves, though." Sam said, looking at the 'bots expectantly.

Barricade and Ratchet exchanged weary glances, and Bumblebee looked confused. Ironhide was the one who asked what they wanted to ask, ignoring Prowl as he glared at him.

Sam and Miles looked at eachother, then clasped their hands together in front of their chests in a begging manner, putting on their best puppy dog pleading eyes and pout. "Can we keep 'em? Please, please, pleaseeee?"

"Frag." Ironhide cussed, and his fellow Cybertronians couldn't help but agree.

* * *

><p>An hour later Miles was sitting inside of Barricade, stretched out in the back. They had called Wheeljack, and gotten him to explain about his creations. It didn't take a Cybertronian to figure out that he had been the one to take the All Spark shard, and had used it on the three. The nickname of dinobots was catching on fast, and Optimus was currently driving to the abandoned factory with his trailer to take the dinobots back to the NEST base. The two sat in silence for awhile, Miles giving the occasional yawn as he let his hands rub against some of the interior in a form of petting.<p>

"Are you okay?" Barricade finally asked, talking through the radio instead of letting his voice come from all around the inside of his alt mode.

"Me? Yeah, I think so. Excluding the fact I almost pissed myself when a Tyrannosaurus Rex broke into the room I was hiding in and advanced." Miles replied, sounding as tired as he felt. "I ran and hid for about two hours from Grimlock and Snarl. Now that I know them they're just like little children. Sparklings. I've never been so terrified in my life, and now I'm treating the things that were scaring me so badly like little siblings."

Barricade was silent for a moment, letting the back seat mold better to Miles body to help him relax more. "I was worried when you called sounding like that. I thought you were going to be dead by the time we got here. I... apologize."

Miles snorted, sighing and relaxing into the seat more. "Yeah, I thought I was gonna die too, Barry. And it's okay. I get you have this whole 'I don't feel anything like weak emotions, especially if they tie me to inferior beings' thing going on. I was actually more angry over the fact that you said you didn't even see me as a socket, a pet. Cuz you at least have to feel something towards a pet, I guess. I dunno. I was being pissy, and I could blame it on being stressed with Wheeljack's costume on me, but I'd probably have gotten pissy even without it."

"You always have been strange, even for a fleshling." The closest thing to another 'I'm sorry' as Barricade was going to get. He sighed happily, and accepted it silently. He was about to drift off when he remembered something.

"Barry?" He asked softly, half asleep but fighting falling asleep the whole way.

He only got the radio turning on and playing soft music as a reply, Barricade trying to get him to sleep.

"No matter what I'll never be sorry that I stayed with you instead of turned and fled when you showed me you were alive. Even if you can be an aft sometimes, or if I think I'm about to die." A pause before he decided there was something else he wanted to say. "And don't mention me being all mushy when I get up."

He felt Barricade's frame shake with silent laughter, and smiled when he heard the softest "Me too.". If it took thinking he was about to die just to get Barricade to be more openly emotional then he was normally, he decided he preferred the 'con as he was.

* * *

><p>Sam sat inside of Bumblebee, getting the Autobot to call Epps. After a few rings he could hear Epps' voice come through the radio. "Whassup Sammy, lil B?"<p>

"Who won the bet this time?" Sam asked, grinning.

A moment of silence. "Fragging Optimus. He had 'Miles being put in danger somehow so Barricade apologizes or Miles freaks and apologizes because he doesn't want to die without doing so'. Prowl was close, but he said Barricade being put in danger. I can see why Optimus chose him as SIC, they think similar. What the hell is OP going to do with the money, anyway?"

Before Sam could reply Bumblebee chose a song. "_Vacation all I ever wanted! Vacation had to get away!_" Sam and Epps laughed.


	19. Burger for Brains

**AN: And we just keep adding on characters!**

_writergurl616:_ The Dinobots are just pure awesome. The end.  
><em><span>The Result of Squffie:<span>_ If you've noticed, in TFA, all the mechs seem to have a liking for how Blackarachnia looks. Personally, if Grimlock had said her whole name I think I would have been surprised. Spider Lady fits more coming from Grimmy  
><em><span>Bookworm Gal:<span>_ Yup, Dinobots and making up in one chapter!  
><em><span>Autobot Firekat:<span>_ Glad you like it!  
><em><span>Fk306 Animelover:<span>_ They're gonna have to make some Dinobot sized cards if they want to really be able to play Go Fish

* * *

><p>"Not that I'm not thrilled that you're here, but why are you… here?" Barricade drawled, glaring down at Sam. The teenager was currently sitting on the Decepticon's leg, making himself comfortable.<p>

Sam grinned back up at the 'con. "For a walking super computer you sure have bad memory files. Optimus asked me to stay here to help with the Dinobots, and Bee followed Miles back to Tranquility to keep an eye on him. Make sure he didn't try to skip school to come back."

"Har. Har. Har." Barricade flicked Sam lightly, causing the teen to slide off his leg and fall on his back.

The Dinobots, as it would turn out, proved that they would really only listen to Sam and Miles. Wheeljack had tried and failed to get his creations to calm down several times, and it had only taken Miles or Sam to say one word and they behaved. Ratchet theorized that the Dinobots saw the two as creator figures, even if they knew that the two couldn't possibly have had a hand in creating them. The Dinobots didn't seem to have a very high thinking capacity, and latched on to what they first saw besides each other. This just happened to be the two teenagers, Sam having tripped over the wire that Wheeljack kept plugged in to keep the Dinobots in recharge.

Optimus had decided that Sam could stay to help out, but that Miles had to go back. He said that the teen had already missed enough school because of them, and while it might put a bit more stress on Sam he seemed like he didn't need the help. Miles, naturally, had fought at first, but had given up when Prowl had just picked him up and handed him to Bumblebee, instructing the scout to make sure Miles went to school.

Currently the Dinobots were running amuck in the med-bay as Ratchet tried to scan them and make sure they were alright. Bumblebee had yet to return, but had informed them that he had personally watched Miles enter school after exiting 'Sasha'. Miles was thankful that the two had thought to pack clothes for the next day just in case, and had quickly changed in his car at a red light.

Sam got up off the ground, opting to sit on it and lean against Barricade's leg so the 'con couldn't flick him off again. "It's not that I'm not happy you two are back together, really, I'm thrilled." He paused, then hastily added, "And I didn't mean it to sound the way it did. But fragging Optimus won that bet!"

"I still don't know how Miles doesn't know about the betting pool whenever we fight." Barricade shifted his leg, watching as the teen fell back onto his back again.

Sam huffed, "Stop moving! And I know. He's in over half of them. I'm pretty sure I know almost all of them, too."

"I know of two that you don't." Barricade said, and Sam glanced up at him, hearing the smirk in his voice. "One is when you and Mikaela will finally break up, and the other is when you and Bee will jump each other and realize your spark mates, or some nonsense. The insect himself knows about both of those."

"Both of them concern my love life, that's great!" Sam retorted sarcastically. "Ain't you Cybertronians ever heard of privacy?" He looked down when he could feel his pocket vibrating.

"No." The 'con stated, watching as Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"It's from Miles. I should so tell Optimus on him!" Sam thumbed through his phone, opening the text message. He read it once, then had to go back and read it again. "Oh frag! Trent has an Autobot!"

Barricade raised an optic ridge. "Trent DeMarco? He gave Miles a black eye. How does he have an Autobot?"

Sam shrugged, "Hell if I know. That's all that Miles said. 'Burger for brains has an Autobot.' Not how, but I bet Trent will be so pissed when he learns his truck got switched out for a living being!"

* * *

><p>Miles felt that the morning had started off badly. He simply hadn't wanted to go to school after finding the Dinobots, and then had practically been forced to. Freedom is the right of all beings? Yeah right, Optimus had left Miles no choice in the matter. While he knew in the long run the leader was just watching out for him, it didn't make Miles any happier about it.<p>

Even worse was that his first class of the day started out with his long time bully, Trent DeMarco. He had entered in to class and sat down in his seat, passing Trent's desk on his way. Trent's desk was directly in front of his own for that class. The jock had already arrived, early for once, and had a stereo cassette player on his desk. Miles had almost snorted as he sat down, it just didn't seem to go with Trent for some reason. He thought it looked a little odd, and couldn't figure out why until he let his eyes drift to the stereo again as class started.

He realized with a start that it had the Autobot insignia on it. His mouth almost fell open with surprise, as he looked from the jock back to the stereo, and from the stereo back to the jock. On top of the Autobot insignia it did look a little bigger than normal stereos, but it also looked slightly old. Did he even know that his stereo was alive? He figured that he probably didn't, that the Autobot might be trying to lay low after following Optimus' message to earth and not being able to find the others just yet. It had to be small if it could fold into the stereo.

He got out his phone and texted Sam when the teacher wasn't looking, trying to think of a way to corner the jock. He thought about trying to steal the stereo, but he wasn't sure how good of an idea that would be, or if he could even manage it. With his luck Trent would catch him and beat him to a pulp!

He sat through class thinking, not paying any attention to what the teacher was saying. Thankfully he wasn't called on, and by the time he got an idea the bell was almost. He got out a piece of paper and scribbled on it, folded it up, and tossed it on to the jock's desk. He watched as Trent unfolded it, read it, then turned around to sneer at Miles.

Miles wasn't sure if that could be taken as a yes or not, but he sincerely hoped so. He had told the jock to meet him at the lake during lunch so no one could see them talking, students allowed to leave to pick up lunch or go home for a few minutes. He had wrote that Mikaela had wanted Miles to tell Trent something.

When lunch time came he quickly ran out to Sasha, and got inside of her. He started her up, then drove her out of the parking lot, hoping that Bumblebee hadn't stayed behind to make sure he had stayed in school. He drove to the lake quickly, parking beside the tree where he had climbed up into it so long ago when Sam had first gotten Bumblebee, and Trent was still dating Mikaela. He was surprised to see that Trent was already there, the Autobot disguised as a stereo sitting on the hood of his car as he played with the dials.

Miles walked over to Trent, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat. "Nice stereo."

Trent sneered, barely glancing at Miles. "It's a piece of shit. Never works right. My cheap ass mom got it at some old fuckers yard sale."

"I could try to fix it for you. I'm pretty good with machines." Miles offered, slightly hopeful.

"You want it?" Trent asked, glaring at Miles. "It's better off at the bottom of this fucking lake." He walked closer towards the lake.

"No! Don't do that!" Miles grabbed Trent's arm that held the stereo as it swung back, getting ready to toss it into the lake.

"Get off me, geek!" Trent growled, shoving Miles off of his arm and on to the ground. He tossed the stereo, but it came up short, and Trent went to kick it.

Just as his foot was about to connect the Autobot transformed, towering over Trent and shoving a cannon in his face. Trent screamed, and Miles would have laughed at how girly it sounded if he didn't think the jock was about to die. He scrambled up quickly, running and putting himself between the cannon and Trent, the jock having fallen backwards on to the ground in shock and horror.

"Wait, wait!" Miles cried, waving his hands at the Autobot. "He didn't mean it, he didn't know that you're alive!" He watched as the Autobot seemed to hesitate. "Optimus Prime has forbidden hurting the creatures of this planet unless it is absolutely necessary, and under these circumstances it wouldn't be absolutely necessary."

At that the Autobot powered down his cannon, and let it transform back into a hand. He looked down at Miles, "You know Optimus Prime?"

"Miles Lancaster, the Charge of Second in Command, Prowl, friend of the Autobots who originally came to Earth, Decepticon Neutral Barricade, and the Autobots who have arrived after the original five." Miles said, waving at the mech with a friendly grin on his face.

"I am Communications Officer Blaster. I had been in a fight before arriving on Earth, and lost my ability to communicate with my fellow Autobots, or even give out a signal. I was able to learn English, but after that I lost connection with the satellites." Blaster informed, then looked at Trent. "He is your friend?"

Miles snorted, "Hardly. Trent DeMarco, typical all American jock. He did not know anything of the Cybertronians until you revealed yourself to him. I only tried to talk to him to get to you. Though I don't personally like him, Optimus did say no killing so we should listen. We'll have to take him to the NEST base with us, however."

Trent seemed to snap out of his shock when he heard his name, and scrambled up on his own two feet, looking between Miles and Blaster. "ARE YOU CRAZY? THAT'S A GIANT FUCKING ROBOT YOU FREAK! I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH YOU TWO! THAT THING TRIED TO KILL ME! I'M CALLING THE COPS!"

"Trent, Trent, Trent." Miles all but cooed at the jock, finding some small amount of pleasure in how things were turning out. "I don't think you understand. Blaster here is a giant alien robot from outer space, with a cannon, and good aim. Now, give me your phone."

Trent refused up until Blaster changed his arm back into the cannon, not even having to power it on before Trent had it out of his pocket and until Miles hand.

Miles smiled, "Thank you. I'll be confiscating it until you have been informed of the situation more fully. Now, get in my car."

"Bu-" Trent tried to protest, but Miles gave him a forceful shove towards his car.

"Back seat, no buts. If you act up any I have a set of hand cuffs in the glove box that I will not be afraid to use." He left out that he didn't have the key, and that he had stolen them from the twins. That was on a need to know basis, and Trent just didn't need to know.

Blaster folded down into the stereo again, Miles watching in amazement the entire time. He had know idea how Blaster could get that small, but he shrugged it off and picked the Autobot up, placing him in the passenger seat. He climbed in the driver's seat and started Sasha up, making sure to lock the doors.

He drove away from the lake, leaving Trent's car behind as he headed towards the NEST base. He was surprised by how quiet the jock was being, and glanced in the rearview mirror, noticing how pale Trent looked.

"Oh, slag." He cursed softly. "Look, Trent, nothing will happen to you. I promise. Blaster felt threatened because you were attempting to hurt him, and he reacted to that. He's new here."

"And just why should I believe that?" Trent asked, and Miles could practically feel the glare that the jock was giving him.

Miles sighed, "Look, I don't want you here as much as you don't want to be here. Remember everything on the news about Mission City? Complete cover up. It turns out that there's life out there, and on a planet a lot older than ours, called Cybertron, a war was going on between two factions. These factions are the Autobots and the Decepticons. The Decepticons, led by Megatron, wanted to use the Allspark cube to take control of the universe and use whatever they came across. They're the bad guys, well, most of them. The Autobots, which Blaster here is apart of, and I am too, technically, wanted to stop the Decepticons. They sent the Allspark cube off into space as a last ditch effort, and lo and behold it landed on Earth." He paused, waiting for Trent to say something.

"So they… came here?" Trent asked cautiously, knowing that Miles was waiting for him to say something.

"Got it in one!" Miles said cheerfully. "The Decepticon leader, Megatron, followed the cube all the way here and ended up frozen in the Artic. Sam's grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, ended up finding Megatron, and well one thing led to another and somehow he got the coordinates of the cube's location imprinted on the glasses. Hoover Dam? It held the cube, and Megatron's body. Everyone thought Megatron was dead, but nope. Anyway, when the other Decepticons got here in search of both Megatron and the cube, they found Sam's eBay page, and tracked him through that. Luckily, Sam had just bought that camaro, which turned out to be the Autobot Bumblebee."

Trent snorted, "You mean that piece of shit came from outer space?"

Miles scowled in the rearview mirror at Trent. "His name is Bumblebee, and while he may have appeared out dated at the time he helped to save your sorry ass, as well as this entire planet. He also scanned a more up to date alt mode, so it's still Bumblebee that's with Sam." He continued the explanation, mentioning Sector Seven and what really happened in Mission City. How Sam had been the one to kill Megatron, destroy the cube, and save their planet in one fell swoop.

"Wait, is that why you and Witwacky weren't so buddy buddy early this year?" Trent demanded once Miles had finished.

"You could say that." Miles replied, glancing at Blaster. The Autobot hadn't said a single word yet. "It was confidential information, and he was afraid he might put me in danger if I knew. But I ended up finding a damaged Decepticon without knowing it, and started to fix it up, planning to sell it so I could get my own car. You remember how your truck got towed? That was Barricade."

Trent growled, "What?"

"He didn't like that you gave me a black eye." Miles smirked into the rearview mirror. "Personally, I was pleasantly surprised that he didn't decide to do worse given that he has access to the police station and could have made you out to be a drug dealer or worse."

Blaster spoke up, surprising them both. "You said he is a neutral now?"

"Yeah. He was laying low for awhile but I accidentally ruined that. Then when I stole Sam's phone after sleeping over to read the messages it turns out that you Autobots are extremely smart and lied to Sam in case the 'con might hack his company, or some nonsense. So when I warned Barricade I was completely wrong, and Ironhide came on to the scene. So, uh, if you hear anything about me taking Hide down with a bouquet of roses, could you not laugh? I like being alive." Miles replied.

Trent snorted, and Blaster made a confused sound. Miles sighed, explaining what he meant further. Trent was mostly quiet except for a few questions, and Blaster told a bit about what happened to him the last hour to the base. As they pulled on to the hidden road that would lead to NEST Miles suddenly remembered something.

"Oh! Not all the 'bots at base are Cybertronians." Miles said, directing it more towards Blaster then towards Trent.

"What do you mean?" Blaster asked, sounding confused.

Miles was about to reply until he glanced at Trent in the rearview mirror again. He grinned, "You'll see."

He pulled into the NEST base, waving at Fig as he did so. He stopped outside of the Autobot's main building, letting Trent get out, and taking Blaster out. Both of them watched as the mech transformed, Trent paying attention for the first time, and Miles still amazed by the process. All three of them turned around when they heard a yell.

"ME GRIMLOCK MISS MILES!" Grimlock yelled as he came racing towards them. It looked like Sam had attempted to give him a bath, he had water dripping off of him and pink bubbles on his tail. Miles smirked when Trent gave out a terrified high pitched scream from beside him, and stepped forward. Grimlock stopped just in time, and Miles let himself be picked up and squeezed.

"Hey Grimmy, I missed you too!" Miles said affectionately, hugging Grimlock's face. "Did you behave for Sam?"

"Me Grimlock no like bath!" Grimlock said, defending himself before Miles even knew he was in trouble. Miles grinned, and Grimlock looked as pouty as a Tyrannosaurus Rex robot could. "Who they?"

Miles gestured at the two behind him, "That's Blaster, another Autobot. This is Trent DeMarco. Trent, say hi to Grimmy before you hurt his feelings."

"H-hi!" The jock sputtered, backing away slightly when Grimlock peered down at him.

"GRIMLOCK!" They heard Sam yell, looking as the teen came running towards them. He was soaking yet, and as he came to a stop he scowled up at the Dinobot before noticing Trent and Blaster. "Oh, you must be the new comer! I'm Sam Witwicky." A glance at Trent, before a small nod of acknowledgement.

"Hello Sam Witwicky, I am Bla-" He was interrupted by Barricade and Bumblebee running up in their bipedal forms. They ignored Trent as he gawked up at him, and Miles looked at the two once before laughing. Several areas on the two were covered with pink bubbles. Mostly their hands and their feet.

"Wow Barry, those are some nice bubbles. Really suit you." Miles said in between laughs.

Barricade snarled, "Oh look, here's a conveniently placed rag for me to use to wipe these pesky bubbles off." He picked Miles up, using him to do just that even if it became quickly ineffective. He ignored Miles protests, and Sam and Bumblebee's laughter. Once he was done he set Miles down, glaring down at Trent. "I know you. You're that stupid brat who gave Miles a black eye."

Trent gulped, "And I'm really, really, sorry about that!"

"Alright, enough scaring burger for brains." Miles smirked even while saying this. "Everyone, this is Blaster. Blaster, you should know the Cybertronians at least. Sam introduced himself, and obviously this is Grimlock."

"I love how even after Optimus has Bee cart you off to school you manage to get out of it somehow." Sam said, laughing as he helped wipe the bubbles off Bee.

Miles huffed, "It was for a good cause! I practically saved Trent's life. The idiot was about to kick Blaster, after trying to toss him in a lake. Blaster wouldn't have known any better."

Trent growled, taking a step towards Miles. He quickly backed down when Barricade glared at him, and Grimlock bared his teeth menacingly.

"Kind of wish you would have brought Mikaela. It's not like we get along with Trent." Sam commented after watching the whole scene.

Miles nodded, "Wishing that myself right about now. Buuut it's too late. Who do we take him to?"

"Epps." Bumblebee supplied, and those that new him could hear the slight mischievous tone of his voice. Sam and Miles grinned, Epps would have a field day with Trent.

* * *

><p>They didn't see or hear anything from Trent and Epps for five hours. Bumblebee had known that given Trent's circumstances, these mainly being how he treated Sam and Miles, that Epps would be most appropriate to deal with him. There's something to be said about a man who can talk in such a way that even Annabelle Lennox would seem frightening. They then took Blaster to Ratchet, ignoring the mech's protests of needing to go to Optimus Prime first. Obviously he had never been around Ratchet that much, and had not yet had the fear of the wrench put in him. They, however, all had been, and knew that Ratchet would get angry if they took a messed up mech to anywhere but him right off. So they left Blaster in the Medic's clutches.<p>

"So, what exactly were you guys hoping to achieve? The dinosaur version of a car wash?" Miles asked as they neared the wash rack, seeing more bubbles then he ever thought possible.

Sam huffed, "The twins messed with the stuff I was going to use. By the time I noticed I was practically in a sea of bubbles and had to call for 'Cade and Bee to come get me out. We then tried to wash Grimlock."

"Which went wonderfully, by the way. He loved it." Bumblebee laughed. "But I think 'Cade loved those pink bubbles even more."

Barricade snorted, glaring at Bumblebee. "I'd love a weapon even more, insect."

As they bantered back and forth playfully, Sam and Miles were doing rock, paper, scissors. Eventually one of the two mechs noticed, inquiring as to why they were doing it.

"Over who has to tell Mikaela that Trent now knows about the Cybertronians." Sam replied cheerfully as he beat Miles.

"Slaggit!" Miles exclaimed. "She's _your_ girlfriend, you aft!"


	20. Glitter everywhere

**AN: I've been waiting for forever to break those two up. IMO I don't think they go together that well as a couple, no more than a high school romance. A bit shorter, but just having fun while getting closer to Thanksgiving!**

_Bookworm Gal:_ I can't see any of the other teenage civilians getting along with him for awhile. Though I think Epps and Will would have a blast getting Trent to shape up.  
><em><span>Noella50881:<span>_ Yup! Glad you like it, and thanks for the review. :)  
><em><span>LionLover190:<span>_ Grimlock is AMAZING!  
><em><span>The Result of Squffie:<span>_ That's true, but it's because she's part organic on Sentinel's part. And he can't stand that she's what Elita One turned into.  
><em><span>TransformerJunkie:<span>_ Glad you like it! :)  
><em><span>theghostqueen:<span>_ I'm glad you like it so much. And I think Miles is/was hippy enough for both him and Barry!  
><em><span>Autobot Firekat:<span>_ Thanks for the review.  
><em><span>writergurl616:<span>_ The same odds as Miles car being an Autobot, I just wanted Trent instead! Glad you like the Dinobots!

* * *

><p>By the time Mikaela got there, having no idea who the newest civilian member of NEST was, everyone was sitting in the rec-room. Stealing herself, she prayed to Primus she hadn't read Sam wrong and would be hurting him. She waltzed in, declared they were breaking up while avoiding looking at Sam's face, and her eyes fell on Trent. Immediately she was torn between shock and anger, but got angry quickly when Trent turned to Miles with a smug look on his face.<p>

"So, this is what you wanted to tell me?" Trent asked smugly.

Mikaela glared at Miles. "What?"

"No, no!" Miles exclaimed quickly, holding his hands up in front of him in a defensive matter. "That was a lie to get closer to Blaster! I had no idea she was going to break up with Sam today!"

Sam snickered, "Timing."

Mikaela glanced at him, anger fading slightly as she was relieved to see he didn't seem too visibly upset. Saving the world with giant alien robots could do a lot to change a person. Then continually spending time in the presence of said alien robots so that they influence you can do even more. Sam had been crushing on her for forever, according to Miles, but after the initial euphoria wore off of having her, saving the world, and being best friends with one of those alien robots, the feelings started to fade. They were alike in some ways, different in others. They complimented each other, but no more than friends would. It ended up becoming just what Miles had always said it would be, a high school romance. Instead of dates they had spent more and more time with their friends, just acting like friends themselves. Even on dates they usually had Bumblebee with them, and didn't want to treat him as a third wheel. A lot of people had seen it coming, and there was already a betting pool on who would break up with who first.

"Blaster?" She asked, turning back to Miles.

"Another Autobot, the Communications officer, or something. His alt form is a slagging stereo." Miles explained.

"When do I get to meet him?" A pause before adding, "And the dinobots?"

"I think Grimlock, Swoop, and Snarl are busy driving Wheeljack insane." Bumblebee said, grinning.

"Okay." She turned to Epps. "Who won?"

Epps grinned, "Bumblebee." The young scout had bet on Mikaela breaking up with Sam, and it being sudden with other people around just in case Sam broke down. Which he was confident his charge wouldn't.

"Bumblebee!" Sam groaned. "Not you too! You Cybertronians and crazy NEST members are impossible!"

"Ya love us, and ya know it!" Jazz said cheerfully, laughing when Sam just grumbled to himself.

Mikaela smiled, "Now I'm not holding you back anymore. You and Miles can take your bromance to the next level."

"Yes!" Miles grinned. "We should totally sing Guy Love in front of everybody, Sam."

Sam made a face, laughing. "No way."

"Don't worry, Miles. I'm more than willing to sing Guy Love with you in front of everyone." Bumblebee laughed.

"What? No way! My best human friend is not cheating on me with my best alien friend, and vice versa!" Sam exclaimed, causing everyone to laugh as he grinned.

Bumblebee grinned, "I'm sorry, Sam, we just can't hide it anymore!" Adding a more dramatic flare to his voice, he grabbed Miles' hand, yanking the teen into his lap and hug. Miles was laughing too hard to protest.

"Well fine, I'll take Barricade then!" Sam mocked huff.

Barricade snorted, "I don't want anything that the insect has infected, thank you very much."

Miles was just managing to escape Bumblebee's grip, still laughing. "I'm flattered, but you can keep Sam. I have Sasha."

"Sasha?" Trent asked, speaking up and surprising some of them. They had almost forgotten he was there.

"My non-Cybertronian car. I thought it appropriate to name her, and give her a gender." Miles explained, in such a way that it sounded as if it should be obvious.

"Ohh, speaking of non-sentient cars, do you think Sasha could replace Bee soon?" Sam asked, Bumblebee making a slightly offended noise. Whether it was playful or he meant it Sam couldn't tell, so he patted Bumblebee's leg in a comforting manner. "My cousin is going to be having her bacherlorette party at my house. Believe me, you won't want to be there."

Miles snorted, "As long as no one does inappropriate things inside of Sasha and I'm invited, okay."

"Course you're invited, bro. Eric's going to be trusting you to make sure his future wife doesn't do anything stupid! Happening next week. We get Friday off to help get ready and then it starts, then Saturday is the wedding." Sam replied, grinning.

"A party? That sounds like fun. Am I invited?" Epps asked playfully.

Sam laughed, "Sorry, Epps. I think it would be hard to explain you being there."

"Could just say I'm your boyfriend." Epps mock pouted, causing everyone to laugh.

"Cradle robber!" Miles snickered. "Hey mom, dad, I want you to meet my boyfriend. He's about a twenty years older than me, and involved with those alien robots, so he's as crazy as I am!"

Mikaela grinned, "I think it would go over perfectly. As long as 'Sam's happy time' isn't brought up again."

"Dear Primus, all of you excluding Miles are never coming near my house ever again!" Sam groaned.

"And me." Bumblebee added, grinning.

"Sorry, Bee, I get bro-dibs. You come after me!" Miles said, laughing.

Barricade cut Bumblebee off before he could protest. "I wouldn't. Unless you want to be there and have your back seat defiled."

"True, true." Bumblebee replied thoughtfully. "I think I'll come visit the base for the weekend then."

"We do expect to get calls from you two. We need to know if you're going to be doing anything inappropriate so we can ask for pictures and laugh!" Epps grinned.

Miles laughed, "Knowing Sam's family they'll try to get him drunk."

* * *

><p>"So you told one of them to call us if the other gets drunk?" Will asked, an eyebrow raised.<p>

"Yup!" Epps said cheerfully.

The days had passed quickly, and it was already the Friday of the bacherolette party. The plans had been changed slightly, Sam and Miles having been asked to return to base Saturday instead of go to the wedding because a new Cybertronian was arriving near Tranquility and they had yet to tell if it was Autobot or Decepticon. Bumblebee had been even more reluctant to leave because of that, but Sam eventually managed to shoo the protective guardian away.

Trent had been going back and forth between the base, Will spending a lot of time with him. Not many people knew it, but he had taken the kid in as a kind of personal project, to see if he could get Trent to shape up, or if the kid was a lost cause. The Captain knew Sam and Miles were a bit uncomfortable around the jock, but he had been trying to get them to spend more time together and to talk more, even if Sam and Miles tended to try to avoid all of Will's efforts.

They were in the human rec-room again. Bumblebee, Barricade, Jazz, Mikaela, Will, Blaster, Epps, Maggie, and Prowl, that is. The humans sat on one couch while the Cybertonians sat on the other.

Barricade snorted, "You really think they'll listen?"

"No." Epps grinned. "Which is why I have my laptop. If one of them calls someone with their phone, I'll know it, and I'll be able to get into the conversation."

"That's invading their privacy, Robert." Bumblebee said, frowning.

"I'm just keeping an eye out for them." Epps replied, knowing he could at least win Bumblebee over if he said things the right way. "You know how many things could happen that they wouldn't call us over? A house fire, trip to the hospital, robbers."

Mikaela laughed, "I doubt they'll really care, anyway. Don't think they'll be making any personal phone calls tonight. Besides, there's nothing else to do. The twins aren't even leaving their room!"

"What's with them lately? I think they've been getting jumpier." Maggie stated.

Jazz shrugged, "Who knows?"

They waited a few hours, different people checking Epps' laptop every now and then. Maggie and Prowl started to play chest, Bumblebee and Jazz were playing video games, Epps was playing the winner of said video games, Mikaela was discussing music she liked with Blaster, and Barricade was talking with Will about strategic war moves. It was about 12:30 when they noticed Miles calling someone, and Epps quickly hacked into it, grinning. They had no idea who was being called, but they figured they'd find out.

"_Miles? What's up?_"  
>"<em>Eric, I'm sorry, but I can't watch over your wife anymore.<em>"  
><em>"What's going on?<em>"  
>"<em>...A lot. I am going to get significantly plastered and hope I just pass out in a corner somewhere before I do anything too embarrassing, and then forget all that I've seen.<em>"  
>"<em>Damn, sounds pretty bad. Sorry for them traumatizing you, lil bud. You at least get pictures to embarrass them with later?<em>"  
>"<em>Oh hell yeah.<em>"  
>"<em>Good boy. You can keep my camera until after we get back from the honey moon. That should be enough time to upload the film.<em>"  
>"<em>Should be. Wait a sec- JUDY DON'T TOUCH THAT!<em>"  
>"<em>Oh jeez, Judy? How's Sam holding up?<em>"  
>"<em>Actually, Sam's the main reason I'm getting drunk off my af-ass. Sam, Judy, Bunny, and everyone else, basically.<em>"  
>"<em>Who's Bunny?<em>"  
>"<em>A very friendly male stripper. He's apparently bisexual, and has a thing for younger males. On the other hand he has a thing for older women.<em>"  
>A pause as they could hear nothing but Eric laughing. "<em>Oh Jesus, I'm sorry, bud.<em>"  
>"<em>Be sorry for Sam, he's going to have one hell of a hangover. And the pictures I have are too good not to use on him.<em>"  
>"<em>Do I get to know what they are?<em>"  
>"<em>You'll see soon enough. I have to go, Sam's being cornered by your soon to be wife to see if vacuum cleaners really can give someone a hickey.<em>"

And then there was nothing as the line went dead, Miles not even leaving time for a proper goodbye as he apparently went to save Sam from a vacuum cleaner. Epps looked around at the others in the rec-room with him.

"They better bring that fucking camera with them." Epps said, grinning.

Maggie rolled her eyes, "Two under aged boys are drinking and you want pictures?"

"Too late to stop them now, and it's around family. Family is providing the alcohol." Will replied for Epps, shrugging. "Can't do much against that."

Mikaela laughed, "Not like you guys didn't let us at alcohol during the Halloween party."

"The thinking behind that is you were around responsible people, nothing bad ended up happening after all, and it'll kill the curiousity." Epps replied, huffing.

"Sounds like it's even more interesting over at Sam's house." Barricade said dryly.

* * *

><p>Mikaela, Bumblebee, Barricade, Jazz, and Epps were waiting for Sam and Miles to arrive in 'Sasha'. They had already gotten a call earlier from a strained sound Miles as he tried to wake Sam up, saying that they'd be there by noon. When they watched Miles pull past the gate and drive towards them, Bumblebee was happy he decided to listen to Sam. Miles' car had a few more dents that it hadn't had before the party, and it looked like it had been drawn on. They watched as Miles drove closer and closer, only to swerve suddenly. Barricade was about to see what was wrong, but they all heard a loud "DAMMIT SAM!". Miles quickly braked and turned Sasha off, then scrambled out of the car. Sam came out after him, laughing hard. The five stared in shock at the two.<p>

"What the frag is your problem?" Miles hissed, either not realizing they had an audience, or just not caring. Probably he didn't care, as Bumblebee, Barricade, and Jazz were in there bipedal modes.

"Hahaha! I figured out what those stains were!" Sam held up a camera to Miles, sitting on the ground.

Miles took it and looked at what had Sam laughing so hard. "Primus damn it, they defiled Sasha's back seat!"

"Miles?" Sam asked, trying not to laugh.

"What?" Miles snapped.

"You realize that's my parents, right?" Sam grinned, Miles quiet for a moment as he let the information sink in.

Miles slowly turned around to face the others, voice strained as he looked mildly horrified and disgusted. "I changed my mind. I want a Cybertronian as my mode of transportation. That'd never happen in one of you because you wouldn't let it!"

Epps snickered, "You two realize that you're _covered _in glitter, right?"

"Yeah!" Sam replied cheerfully, getting up off the ground. He then proceeded to gesture them closer, and opened Sasha's doors. Barricade, Bumblebee, and Jazz activated their holoforms. The floor was covered in glitter, as deep as it could get. Glitter was on the seats, around the mirrors, on the ceiling of the car. They watched as Sam opened the glove box and glitter poured out.

Miles groaned, leaning against Barricade's holoform for support. "We don't know where the glitter came from. The only picture we have of stuff being done to Sasha, besides her being defiled, is of some clown painting on her."

"From the way that phone call sounded las' nigh' Ah'm surprised Sam's so chipper." Jazz said, effectively informing the two that they had been snooped on. He ignored Epps' glare.

"I don't remember most of it, actually." Sam laughed. "And why I'm only looking at the very last few pictures."

"Sam learned how to lap dance!" Miles said gleefully, watching as Sam froze up and made a small strangled kind of sound. He really hoped the memories were coming back.

Bumblebee and Jazz looked slightly shocked, Barricade looked bored, and Epps and Mikaela started to laugh. Miles pulled up the pictures on the camera, showing he wasn't lying.

"I did too after I got drunk. So we both know how to lap dance." Miles admitted, saving his friend some embarrassment, though Sam was already beet red. He grinned. "But Bunny, the stripper, seem to take a special liking to Sam. Sam, check your back pocket."

Sam did so without thinking, pulling out a folded up piece of paper. He unfolded it, read it, and if possible managed to turn even more red.

"That is Bunny's phone number." Miles explained, smirking. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go find Grimlock and ask him to 'accidentally' step on Sasha. That way the government has to buy me a new car."

Epps stopped him to grab the camera, then let him leave. Triumphant, he turned towards the others, starting to look through the pictures. Sam eventually had to leave before even getting through the first ten, thoroughly embarrassed and suddenly feeling like he should get cleaned up.


	21. I'm a Jock, You're a Nerd

**AN: I have only watched the movies, this is strictly MOVIEverse when it deals with the humans. The movies never say anything about Miles' and Trent's family life. Miles doesn't change anything, it still makes him to the normal, crazy, but mentally stable guy we all love. Trent's, however, could explain why he feels the need to be a Jock. ****And I just felt like having it this way. My mind box is the hat and I pull shit out of it. So there.**

_Bookworm Gal:_ Haha, sorry for the mental trauma! It needed to be done.  
><em><span>writergurl616:<span>_ OMP, The Hangover! Except who would be the crazy oriental dude?  
><em><span>Fk306 animelover:<span>_ Glad you like it. :)  
><em><span>LionLover190:<span>_ Glad to entertain!  
><em><span>The Result of Squffie:<span>_ Well, from what I can get of it, it's because Optimus refused to go back for Elita One's body. There should have probably been at least some sort of remains to find, but they never went back. Sentinel hated Optimus for it, I guess. I really wish they'd put out another season of TFA! So much needs explained.  
><em><span>TransformerJunkie:<span>_ Glad you to please! ;D

**So a bit more serious to balance out the full out humor I did last chapter. And advancing the relationships. Well, a little, anyway. **

* * *

><p>Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, walked in to the meeting room and had to fight the urge to walk right back out. He knew it would be loud, since he could hear them all the way down the hall, but on his list of things he wanted to do today having this meeting wasn't one of them. He took his seat at the head of the table. The head of the large, Cybertronian sized table.<p>

To his left was Barricade, who appeared to be arguing with Miles. After listening in for a moment he put his face mask down to hide his smile. Miles was attempting to get Barricade to step on his non-sentient car, dubbed Sasha, after a party the night before that left the car's backseat defiled. To his right was Ratchet. Ratchet was talking to Prowl, and berating him for not getting enough recharge. Prowl had Maggie, and both were steadily ignoring Ratchet. Bumblebee was sitting next to Barricade. He had Sam with him, and the poor boy still look embarrassed. Miles had sent everyone a video of him lap dancing as payback for Sam's parents being the ones to defile Sasha's back seat. Blaster, who had Glen, was sitting next to Jazz, who had Epps. The four appeared to be in a heated debate about music. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were sitting side by side, and Sunstreaker was talking to Fig in Spanish. Besides that there was also Trailbreaker, Wheeljack, Blurr, First Aid, Ironhide, and Inferno. Will, of course, was with Ironhide, discussing which weapon would be better in what situation. They also had Trent with them.

He made a sound akin to a human cough, using it to get everyone's attention. Once all eyes and optics were turned towards him he felt it safe to begin. "I have called everyone to this meeting because it has been brought to my attention that we still do not have a decent understanding of the human race." A pause as he turned his optics to Ratchet. "Ratchet, if you would."

"This is only the first meeting in a series of meetings. Today we will be discussing family. Prowl, you can go." Ratchet nodded in Prowl's direction.

"Yes, well, as most of you know the Allspark was the source of where are sparks came from. The Creators would personally make their Sparkling's body themselves before receiving the spark. There are some cases in which one of the sparks can make sparks themselves when paired with another, and these sparks we deem as Femmes, and put them in slightly different bodies. Only a few femmes can actually do this, and a spark made by a femme, even if a femme, can not make another spark. There is a huge difference in the femme to mech ratio, which is why our concepts of gender, and gender based relationships, are different. It is more normal for a mech to be with another mech than a mech to be with a femme on Cyberton. Just because two creators might raise more than one spark does not make the sparklings siblings. They are not related. The closest things to siblings we have is the twins, and that is one spark split in two. …Epps, how could you possibly have a question?" Prowl asked, sounding exasperated as he looked. The army Sergeant had raised his hand.

"Birds and the bees." Epps grinned. "NOT IT!"

"NOT IT!" Miles, Sam, Mikaela, Glen, Will, Fig, and even Trent chimed in seconds after. They all turned to look at Maggie.

"W-what!" Maggie sputtered. "That is ju- That's just not fair! I don't want to give them _The Talk_!"

"Wha's wrong with talkin' to us, Mags?" Jazz asked, the only Cybertronian willing to voice their confusion, though it was obvious the rest were confused too. Only Bumblebee knew the mysterious rules of the 'Not It', and even he didn't know why it was being used.

"No, Jazzy baby, _The Talk_. Two capital T's." Epps explained as it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Also, _The Three A's_. NOT IT!"

Maggie yelled not it almost directly afterwards, with Will, Glen, Fig, Trent, and Mikaela following right after. Sam and Miles looked confused. They had been washing off when the other five humans had been discussing the meeting, and didn't know the battle plans.

"What's _The Three A's_?" Miles asked.

"Abortion, abandonment, and abu-" Epps was saying, when Sam cut him off with a loud 'not it!'.

Miles cursed, "Slag! Maggie, I'll trade you _The Three A's_ for _The Talk_."

"Oh no," Maggie said. "I'm suddenly very happy with _The Talk_."

Prowl made a coughing sound to draw their attention. "We do know how humans reproduce."

"I'm home free then. Looks like its up to you, Miles." Maggie smirked.

Miles glowered, "Ugh, fine, leave the teenager to do the adult's work. Who here, besides me, doesn't just have biological parents or parent raising them?"

"Me." Trent replied. Maggie, Sam, Mikaela, Fig, Will, Glen, and Epps saying nothing.

"Okay, step-parent or what?" Miles asked.

Trent just grunted in confirmation, causing Miles to roll his eyes. He carefully climbed down from his spot on Barricade's shoulder, and stood in the 'con's hand. He grinned.

"Okay, class, we will begin with parents, or as you Cybertronians would call them, Creators. There is more than one type of Creator for a human, so we will start of with biological. Now, can anyone tell me what a biological creator is?" Miles seemed completely ready and willing to act as if he was teaching a class, waiting until a Cybertronian raised their hand.

Ratchet did so, and Miles called on him with a grin. "A biological creator is one who actually is related to the sparkling, or child in this case. If it is the mother they provided the egg and half of the DNA, and if it is the father they provided the sperm and other half of the DNA."

"Correct! N-" Miles was saying cheerfully, Sam cutting him off to fill in a sentence for him.

"Ow if only I had some gold stars to give out, right, buddy?" Sam grinned.

"Silence from the Witwackys, or I will create a time out section." Miles huffed. "Now, the first thing we will go over is adoption. This means, for some reason, a sparklings biological creators are either no longer with it, are not deemed fit, or can not care for them, and they are placed in facilities designed to house kids who are waiting to be adopted. Adopting a sparkling means you legally become the sparklings creators, and the biological creators no longer have any real say to it. Any questions?"

There was no answer, leading Miles to believe that there was no questions.

Miles couldn't stop the smirk from coming on to his face. "Okay, now here's a real life example. My biological femme creator died, causing my biological femme creator's creators to adopt me, which means they are my legal creators. That makes my biological femme creator my legal sister. Got that?"

"How the frag does that work out?" Ironhide growled. "What happened to your biological father?"

"I was a woops baby. He disappeared." Miles explained, forgetting they wouldn't understand his terminology.

"He wha'? Tha's awful, mah man. We should look for 'im!" Jazz said, and Bumblebee nodded in agreement.

All of the humans suddenly looked varying degrees of awkward, glancing at each other and then back to the Cybertronians. Miles attempted to regain their attention, but they just continued in their plans.

"GUYS!" Sam yelled, gaining their attention quickly. "No."

Miles rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, class, this brings us to our first two a's. Abortion. When I said I was a woops baby I meant I wasn't planned. My biological creators had sex without ever meaning for me to come up. My mech creator was pressing my femme creator for abortion. Abortion is… well it kills the sparkling while its still in the womb. The sparkling never gets the chance to even live." A pause before he tried to lighten it up a bit. "If you can't guess my femme creator was against it, and lil ol' annoying me is here to talk face to, er, metal with all of you today."

Shocked silence reminded him and his fellow humans just how different they were from there new friends. He shared a look with Sam, and could tell his friend was thinking along the same lines. The Cybertronians just seemed so much more perfect then the human race did. They didn't have abortion, or a couple cheating on each other. No stupid things like that.

"I can see why he 'disappeared' then." Barricade growled. "Your femme creator must have killed him for such thoughts."

Miles laughed, "Sorry, Barry, but no. That brings us to our second a of this little real life example, abandonment. When my femme creator refused to abort my mech creator left. Meaning he quit the relationship, quit her, refused to accept me, support us, etcetera etcetera. My femme creator moved back to Tranquility after that, back with her creators, so she could have support for the both of us."

"What happened to her?" Wheeljack asked, fascinated and horrified from a scientific point of view. Humans were just baffling sometimes.

"She offlined when I was… either eight months or eleven months." Miles stated. "I always get her and her femme creator's sister mixed up."

Trent snorted, "How do you forget when your own mother died?"

It was meant to make Miles react, but it was Sam who snapped at Trent. Will and Epps visibly tensed, knowing the three males didn't get along well and were more than ready to stop a fight. Mikaela glared at her ex, and Maggie and Glen shook their heads.

"He didn't even know that his legal creators weren't his biological creators until the first day of sixth grade." Sam snapped, glaring at Trent as if to dare him to say anything more.

Miles grinned, "Marry me later?" He laughed when Sam nodded.

"Why didn't they tell you that they were not your biological creators?" Bumblebee asked, shifting Sam a bit so he was holding his charge, just in case anything did between him and Trent.

"So I'd turn out normal, I guess. I grew up thinking I had loving creators." Miles paused in his reply for a moment as he considered something. "I mean, if I had known they weren't my biological creators, I would still have been happy and felt loved, but knowing that my biological mech creator ditched me probably would've made me have some self-conscious issues, I guess. I dunno, since they did it the way they did it always feels like I'm talking about two people who are just people to me, not my biological creators. My legal creators are the ones I see, love, and think of as my creators. The biological ones don't feel like it."

And it was true, talking about his biological parents always made him feel as if he was talking about someone else's parents. He had accepted his grandparents, his legal parents, as his real parents and that wasn't going to change. The how or why of it didn't bother him a bit, though there was the initial freak out over being lied to for most of his life.

He smirked, climbing back up onto Barricade's shoulder. "And my teaching assistant can take care of our second real life example. Trent?"

"Right." Trent sent a glare in Miles direction, but was ignored. "I got a step-father. That's what happens when a married couple gets divorced. I stayed with my mom, so when she remarried I got a step-father."

"What happened to cause your creators to split up?" Wheeljack asked again. It seemed as if the rest of the 'bots were content on him asking all the questions. He was a scientist after all.

"My da-, my biological creator, was a fucking abusive asshole. Mom dumped his ass after so long." Trent glowered.

Wheeljack tilted his head to the side as if contemplating what Trent had said. "Abusive?"

The humans got awkward quickly again. No one wanted to make Trent explain, it was obviously a sore topic for the teenager if his reactions were anything to go by, but no one else really wanted to explain it either.

"When someone is abusive in a relationship it means that they hurt someone else physically or mentally. Sometimes both." Will finally said, sighing. "This can be between a couple, and I'm not going to use the term Sparkmates because I know for a fact that spark mates would never do that to each other, or between Creator and Sparkling."

And the meeting suddenly turned into a jumble of voices as the Cybertronians all started to ask questions, voice disbeliefs, or the like. Humans and Cybertronians were alike in a lot of ways, but this meeting helped to remind them that there was a lot of differences, too. And sometimes they weren't all good.

* * *

><p>Sam sighed to himself as he walked around base. After the meeting had turned to chaos he had quickly gotten a headache. Cybetronians just did not seem to understand the concept of inside voices. So he had quickly escaped from everyone when the meeting let out, just going to enjoy the fresh air and be able to hear himself think.<p>

He wasn't surprised that the opportunity didn't last long. He could hear someone jogging to catch up to him already. When he turned around he was just about to send a friendly greeting when he saw it was Trent. The greeting died in his mouth as he suddenly became uncertain what to say, and felt awkward. The jock came to a stop in front of him, looking just as awkward as Sam felt.

"Look, I'm sorry." Trent said after about a full minute of awkward silence. Sam stared at him as if he had grown a second head, and he might as well have if he had just apologized.

"Uh… If I ask for what you're not going to beat me up, are you?" Sam asked tentatively. He tried not to glance around, pretty certain that if Trent did decide to beat him up he wouldn't be able to be saved until he already had a few bruises.

Trent let out an aggravated sigh, glaring at Sam. "I'm a jock. You're a nerd."

He walked off after that, as if it explained everything. After Sam stood there confused for a few minutes, he couldn't help but silently think that it kind of did. He wasn't a psychiatrist, but after hearing what he did in the meeting, it wasn't hard to guess that Trent probably felt like he had to have a hard outer coating as a safety net. Sam didn't need any such safety net, his parents had raised him to not need it.

And after another minute he followed the direction Trent had left in, deciding that maybe they could at least stand each other. Getting along was still too much to ask for, but who knew what the future could hold. Whatever was currently controlling their lives, be it Primus, God, or some other great being, certainly seemed to like throwing them all for a loop.


	22. NEST fanfiction, oh Primus no!

**AN: Alright, sorry for the hold up, guys! Thanks for being patient, and for those of you who responded to my Author's note/chapter, thanks for understanding. **

**I'm not going to go through reviews like I usually do because it's late and I want to upload this quickly then head for bed. I'll try to do another chapter this weekend, and reply to a few reviews in it as well IF I can. So thank you to all of you who took the time to review, and even everyone who reads this!**

**The official Chapter 22  
><strong>_**NEST fanfiction, oh Primus no!**_

* * *

><p>It was late at night and Miles was making his way back from the Autobot recharge rooms to the barracks were he, Sam, and the NEST soldiers slept.<p>

They had had the meeting about family earlier that morning, and most of the humans had gone off to relax after it. They had Monday off of school for whatever reason, and so would be staying Sunday night and most of Monday. Miles had personally been nabbed by Barricade, and Prowl had come along, muttering something about needing to understand the life of his charge even if it was enough to make him glitch. It had turned went from his parents, or creators as the Cybertronians would deem them, to Prowl's and Barricade's.

Both Prowl and Miles were a bit shocked to learn that Barricade himself was almost as young as Bumblebee. The human equivalent would put him around mid to early twenties, while the yellow Autobot scout would be around the same age as Miles and Sam.

Mikaela and Maggie had went with Ratchet to watch him perform a check up on Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, leaving Fig to hang around and annoy Will. Sam had went out for a drive with Bumblebee, a very long drive, and Glen and Epps laid in the human rec-room with their laptops on their laps. Trent had left to return home, saying goodbye to everyone around lunch time.

The night itself was rather cool, and most mechs and organics were sleeping at that point. Miles hummed to himself as he walked along, some odd tune that Bumblebee had played earlier at the meeting in response to something that had gotten stuck in his head, and he never heard the light foot steps as they came up behind him.

He had no idea anyone was there at all until he felt strong arms slip around him, one hand firmly finding its place on his mouth. He didn't even have the chance to scream.

* * *

><p>The next morning no one was able to find Epps, which in itself wasn't enough to cause any worry. However, Miles was also no where to be found, which more then likely meant that they were both in the same place, and that poor Miles was at the older man's mercy. While this was discussed at breakfast, no one really bothered to do anything about it. It was still early, and no one wanted to have to put up with the craziness that was Sergeant Robert Epps. Or Miles Lancaster, for that matter.<p>

It wasn't until Will recieved a call from Epps, asking for both him and Sam, that anyone bothered to actually look for where the two were. Surprisingly enough they were in the communications/control room with Blaster. Both of them were sitting side by side, huddled around one of the screens. Blaster seemed to be ignoring them, probably having dealt with whatever they were up to for the last couple of hours.

_If they've been here for awhile I feel for ya, Blast._ Will thought.

Outloud, he gained the attention of his two friends. "What's up?"

"One word my friend," Epps said, grinning. He looked back at them, but Miles continued to stare at the screen. The teen hadn't moved once since they had come in. "Fanfiction."

"Excuse me?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew what fanfiction was, of course, he just didn't get how it applied to the situation.

Here Blaster cut in, his tone a drawl. "You are aware of the NEST website, yes? Only NEST members, which few Civilians are considered to be apart of, present company excluded, have access to it. The security around it is a program we Autobots have made to make sure no one else can get into it. The site itself is split into three parts. The first and most important part is the part where you organics and my people can communicate together, and share things. The other two parts are a human side and a Cybertronian side, blocked to the other side so that we may speak freely of our co-workers. Any slandering is prohibited, and I personally know the Cybertronians do no such thing, but I, nor any Autobot I know, has attempted to see the human's side of it."

"Oh," Sam said simply, and a growing sense of dread could be seen in the teen's eyes. He suddenly wanted to leave the room, and quickly at that. He sent a pleading look to Will.

"So... The human side has fanfiction?" Will asked, taking a bit longer to get it, and not noticing the pleading look that Sam sent him.

"It would seem so," Blaster replied. The mech paused as he glanced at Will and Sam, before continuing on dryly. "You organics are very imaginitive when it comes to how we have 'sex' as you would call it."

At the word sex they could see Miles twitch, turning his head to look away from the screen as quickly as he could. Beside him Epps snickered.

"Reading that threesome between him, Prowl, and 'Cade seemed to make him 'glitch'." Epps said, voice strained as he tried to keep from laughing. "Y'know, apparently some people think Miles has a cop car fetish."

Miles practically growled, "Well at least some don't think I have a thing for Will and like to creep on him when he and Ironhide 'face."

"That was one story! One!" Epps huffed, glaring at the teen. Blaster got up, nodded at Will, then quickly left the room.

They could hear it as he engaged the locks, and seconds later a basewide message was made, so that everyone, humans and mechs alike, could hear it. _:Lockdown on the communications room. There seems to be an odd virus spreading from 'fanfiction'. It has infected many on the base, and currently Epps and Miles are battling a terrible case of it. Sam and Will are in there, and I can only assume that Miles and Epps will infect the two of them. May Primus save them all. ...And Bumblebee, look up fanfiction before you freak.:_

Miles laughed, and Epps got up from his seat, moving over to where Blaster had been sitting. He quickly accessed one of the largest screens in the room, activated it, put in his ID and password, and accessed the fanfiction part of the NEST website. He pulled it up, the screen large enough so that all could see even when crowded together.

"No, dudes," Sam said softly, staring at the door. He really hoped Bumblebee would freak anyway and attempt to save him. "No way."

Miles smirked, "When you're old and wrinkly, and your grandchildren are gathered around you, don't you want to tell them you braved NEST fanfiction?"

Will and Sam looked at eachother, and then shaked their heads in unison. No, they did not want to face the horrors of NEST fanfiction, thank you very much. They preffered riding in the sentient cars and talking to them, not avoiding them and never looking them in the optic. But alas, they were locked in, and Miles and Epps were a challenge on their own. Together they were formidable.

They were dragged into it, Epps even going as far as to handcuff Will's arm to the arm rest on one of the chairs to get the Captain to stay. Insubbordination be damned. Miles took the more subtle approach, and guilted Sam into doing it. His friend still felt bad for basically dropping contact after the battle of Mission City.

They sat there, eyes widening as Miles and Epps explained the lengthy list of pairings. There was two general categories; mechxmech and mechxhuman. They listed some of the more popular mechxmech pairings first, and ones they found funny. PrimexProwl, PrimexIronhide, IronhidexRatchet, RatchetxSunstreakerxSideswipe, ProwlxBarricade, BlurrxBumblebee, BumblebeexPrime, BumblebeexIronhide, SunstreakerxSideswipe, BumblebeexProwl, ProwlxJazz, JazzxTrailbreaker, and more. There was a shocking amount, and Will and Sam realized they didn't even know if there was relationships with their friends. At least not who was with who.

And then they started on the mechxhuman, and the two tried not to think anymore. SamxBumblebee, SamxPrime, WillxIronhide, MilesxBarricade, MilesxBarricadexProwl, SamxMilesxBumblebee, JazzxEpps, SunstreakerxSideswipexFig, SunstreakerxFig, TrentxBlaster, TrentxMilesxBarricade, TrentxSamxBumblebee, SarahxWillxIronhide, MikaelaxSamxBumblebee, BlurrxMiles, MilesxProwl, EppsxWillxIronhide, MaggiexProwl, and more.

"Oh, here's one," Miles said cheerfully. "Title: A medbot's duties. Summary: Ratchet makes sure that his patients are happy and relaxed in every way possible. Organics and 'bots alike." He snorted, clicking on it.

Epps looked, clicking an arrow to show the chapter titles. He laughed. "How nice, each chapter says which couple it will focus on. RatchetxPrime, RatchetxProwl... Oh Primus, Ratchetxthe twins. I'm not even sure how that would work, we avoided reading the threesomes for the most part. Except Miles' sexy time with Prowl and 'Cade. Of course that was holoforms..." He clicked the chapter with the twins, scrolling down to the whole point of that particular story. The crazy robot interfacing.

"Ratchet had always fixed them up," Miles read from the screen. "Always took such good care of them, even if they pranked the poor medbot endlessly. Even as he thought this, Sideswipe felt a grin form on his face as he watched his twin kiss Ratchet, glossas dancing for dominance, and grip the med's aft. It was their turn to take care of the medic."

Sam snickered, "I vote we download this and send it to Ratchet anonymously. Tell him to stop fraggin' everybot under the sun, and their humans too." The teen shoved Miles away from the screen, moving over and putting in his own search. If he had to be here and be tortured by it, he could at least have some fun with it. He glanced over at Epps, and saw the Sergeant smirk as he read the new search that came up. Miles and Barricade, a personal favorite of his.

"Title: Bad kitty." Sam read, Epps snickering beside him. Miles moved back beside Will, groaning and trying to plead with his friend to stop. "Guess your Halloween costume was pretty popular, eh, kitty?" He clicked on the link, Epps moving closer.

"Barricade watched as Miles curled up happily in Prowl's lap in the Autobot rec-room, Prowl reading a datapad with one hand as he stroked the teen's head with one finger gently." Epps started to read. "For once, he kept his rage inside. Miles had been _his_ first, and Prowl had no right to touch what was _his_. But Barricade wasn't stupid, anything but, in fact. He knew if he acted wrong it would only scare Miles off completely, and that was the last thing he needed. So he had enlisted the help of Bobbie an-" Epps was cut off by Will.

"Bobbie? Who else calls you that besides Sarah?" Will asked, knowing Epps hated it when she did so. Everyone called him Epps for a reason, after all. He liked it that way.

"Hmm, a BBTlover, apparently." A pause as Epps opened up the person's profile on another page. "BBT stands for Big Black Truck. Oh my God, it's Sarah!" He laughed, quickly clicking on the link that would take him to BBTlover's fanfiction. He scanned it quickly, smirking when he found what he was looking for. Perfect. It didn't matter that it wasn't Sarah, they couldn't tell that. Fanfiction was set up with usernames and you couldn't tell who was who unless they put their names willingly, or leaked too much info.

"What?" Miles exclaimed, looking at Will with wide eyes.

Will smirked, "Better you then me, kid. Sorry."

"Oh, she has some of you and 'Hide, too, Will." Epps said, the smirk being heard in his voice as he pulled one of them up and began to read. "Ironhide had just found out it was Will's day of sparking, and while he didn't understand their strange organic costumes, he supposed he could get the Captain a gift. He had asked Sarah, who knew too much for her own good, and she had suggested something that was sure to relieve some of Will's stress, a di-pfffffffffft! A dildo!"

There was nothing but silence as they all turned to look at Will. For a few seconds he just stood there, and they were afraid he would pull a Prowl. Instead, he quickly came back to himself, activated the base wide communications, and begged loudly to be lit out until someone finally took pity on him and took him away from the other three and to the human rec-room.

* * *

><p>By the time the joke was found out, it was already too late. The water cooler that had a pink liquid inside of it, with a paper sign that read 'human energon' on it, had already been in the human rec-room for several hours. In fact, the liquid inside to be the center of attention to everyone in that room.<p>

Glen had started the betting pool, and a large dry erase board was brought in to keep track. No one questioned why Wheeljack, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe's holoforms were there. They figured that it was a simple answer; Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had invented whatever the strange concation happened to be, and Wheeljack was either there because they blackmailed him so Ratcher wouldn't have to find out if a human happened to have a negative reaction to it, or because he was curious himself. The three mechs knew exactly what the liquid was, but around dinner time they felt it was safe enough to leave the room with a camer in their place.

Up until about an hour after they had left, Will had been the record holder, managing to have downed a whole cup. Most hated the taste and couldn't stand even more than a sip, but he had no problem with it. However, that didn't mean his stomach happened to agree with his taste buds. Half an hour later he was puking his guts out, a reluctant and confused Ironhide being ordered to watch him. He didn't want Sam, Miles, or Epps anywhere near him with what he had been reading, and Wheeljack had refused to let him be alone. Ironhide had agreed because Ratchet could even put the fear of the wrench in him.

Not long after the three mechs had left, three new challengers had arrived to take on the challenge. Miles, Sam, and Epps had decided that they had enough of being disturbed, laughing so hard they cried, and feeling like they wanted to 'purge their tanks' due to the fanfiction, and had gone to the rec-room to take a break. The three quickly beat Will's one glass record, being cheered on by Glen, Maggie, and Mikaela. Everyone but Will had thought the pink liquid had tasted awful. But Miles, Epps, and Sam happened to agree with Will. It tasted odd, something they could never describe, but it wasn't bad at all. Sam had even texted Will, taunting him about how even Epps had a stronger stomach then him. The Captain didn't reply, but he did get a text from Ironhide telling him to shut the slag up before he sent him to the pit.

Epps had dropped out at his 5th cup, saying he gave up. Miles and Sam were both on their 10th cup, taking minor breaks in between so they wouldn't manage to over hydrate or puke because they drank too much, when Bumblebee, Ratchet, Barricade, Ironhide, and Prowl stormed in with the twins and Wheeljack following behind them sulking. Bumblebee and Barricade then stormed over to them, and grabbed cups from their hands.

"Barry!" Miles protested, a whine evident in his voice. "I was just about to beat Sam!"

Surprisingly enough it was Bumblebee who spoke up, his tone chiding. "What in the pit were you two thinking drinking an unknown substance? You're not sparklings!"

They both knew something had to be up if Bumblebee was the one speaking like that, and they both frowned, looked at eachother, then pointed to the sign that said it was human energon.

"Well, about that," Sideswipe started to say reluctantly, casting a nervous glance at Bumblebee and Barricade. Both he and his brother had a few new dents and scratches from the two. And the slagging 'con didn't even have his weapons. "The human part really should be changed to Cybertronian."

The two teens stared at him, and Epps did too. "You're saying that we just drank _Energon_? Like honest to God, Primus, what-the-frag-ever, _Energon_?" A pause as Epps glanced at his younger cohorts. "And I only drank five cups, thank Primus. So what's this supposed to do, anyway?"

Silence for a few seconds as the Cybertronians looked in between eachother. They were probably using their internal comm links to talk, and the three humans frowned.

Ratchet's holoform stepped forward. "We are not sure. Only you, William, Samual, and Miles have shown any difference towards it. Every other organic who has drank it has shown distaste after one sip, and usually spit it out or felt quesy afterwords. William thought it tasted fine, but is now in the process of purging his stomach of it completely. You three have not only drank more than everyone else, but have not shown any signs of it not agreeing with you."

"So..." Miles trailed off, looking at Ratchet wearily.

"Energon is not meant for organics. One sip will do no harm. One cup is probably pressing it. From what we know you guys shouldn't be doing so well." Prowl explained, the only calm face out of the other seven Cybertronians.


	23. Rolling Pin Horrors

**AN: Mwahaha. I believe my last chapter was the first ever cliff hanger on this story, and it's advancing the plot. :D A reward for my being busy? And I just wanted to. Have any of you read **_The Diego Diaries_**? It's IronhidexRatchet centric, but there's also PrimexProwl, JazzxMirage, The TwinsxBluestreak, and some others. So far I love it, and am on part two. I totally suggest it!**

_LionLover190:_ Happy you like it! ;D  
><em><span>Noella50881:<span>_ You never knooow  
><em><span>Autobot Firekat:<span>_ Thanks for the review.  
><em><span>Rockubyebaby:<span>_ Oh yeaaah!  
><em><span>Wind of the Dawn:<span>_ They trust the Cybertronians. Apparently that's a mistake when it comes to pink liquids!  
><em><span>Writergurl616<span>:_ Yeah, some people can come up with some freaky shit.  
><em><span>Fk306 animelover:<span>_ Haha, if you paid careful attention it says it wasn't Sarah. Epps was just being mean. :D  
><em>Bumblebee girl:<em> I'm happy you like it so much! :) Thanks for reading and reviewing!  
><em><span>TransformerJunkie:<span>_ Thanks a lot, hun! ;D  
><em>The Result of Squffie:<em> Haha, yay FANFICTION!

**Reviews: **_italics/underlined_ actual members. _italics only_ are anonymous reviewers.  
><strong>Comm frequencies between Cybertronians: <strong>_:italics:_

**Edit: Originally had Miles' mom's name as Margaret. Only after realizing that Sam would shorten it to Maggie and that there is already a Maggie do I change it.**

Chapter 23  
><em>Rolling Pin Horrors<em>

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><p>They sat through test after test after test, Ratchet working hard to make sure they were alright. Epps was tested right along with Sam and Miles, despite the fact he hadn't drank as much. Ratchet was nothing but thorough, and even resorted to doing some tests over and over again. The three sat quietly and took it for a few hours, slightly worried themselves over the reaction to their current predicament, but the longer it took the more annoyed the two teens seemed to get.<p>

Most of the others who had tried the energon had spit it back out, or barely even managed a swallow. That was also when Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Wheeljack had been watching. They knew that more then one cup would be bad for a human, and even a full cup would probably be bad, though they watched with amusement as Will chugged one down, baffled by the human who suddenly found the energon nice instead of nasty.

Either way Ratchet had made sure to have Glen get everyone who had swallowed it together. It appeared soon enough that anyone it didn't agree with just threw up, getting it out of their systems soon after consuming it. There was only about five people who had done so, each of them having consumed about half a glass through sheer will power alone. An eye would be kept on all of them, but for now they were not the most pressing matter. Miles, Epps, Sam, and even Will were. Though Will, who had already emptied his stomach, was second priority to the others.

On Miles part he had been up all night, and had already accepted the fact that freaky alien shit will happen to him when he had the 'add ons' from Ratchet. He had been up all night the night before after being kidnapped by Epps to read fan fiction, and he was being kept awake a second night. So by the time six hours had passed and it was around two in the morning, he was more then cranky and was tending towards snapping at the medic when ever he was asked about his condition.

Sam was fine, if not slightly tired. He hadn't spent the night before awake and facing the horrors of NEST fan fiction, and had woken up at the same time as most of the other organics on base. Epps, having gone without the same amount of sleep as Miles, was actually more surprising in that he just sat and watched tiredly, remaining relatively quiet. Sam had assumed that the older male would get snappish like Miles, but assume makes an ass out of you and me, after all.

Ratchet and the three humans weren't the only ones in the medbay. Bumblebee and Barricade sat side by side, using data pads to play some game together. Optimus Prime stood by Prowl, talking softly to his SIC. Jazz was holding Epps. Will and Ironhide were there too, but the older man was off the hook because he had already cleaned his systems of the energon. Will was asleep.

Currently the two were both watching as Miles and Ratchet fought, the teen wanting sleep, and the Medic saying it might not be the best idea. Going to sleep would disturb his scans, and might make it impossible for him to help in time. Of course, that had been at the beginning over their little row, when both were still being slightly reasonable. Now they were just throwing stuff back and forth, Ratchet threatening to throw stuff and turn Miles into a toaster, and Miles finding a lot of ways to call the Medic older then the Pit itself.

Sam sighed, glancing over at Bumblebee and gesturing the 'bot closer. When he was close enough he whispered in the 'bots audio, and grinned as he watched Bumblebee's optics dimmed, a sign that they were searching the internet. The blue optics brightened once more and looked down at Sam with amusement.

Sam got Epps attention, as the older man had been nodding off, and everyone in the room turned to watch as Ratchet froze completely, hands in mid air, about to execute a threatening gesture. Miles watched astonished, before looking at Sam with wide eyes.

"You didn't." He whispered in disbelief.

Sam smirked, "I did."

The three humans jumped when they heard a loud crash, and looked to see Prowl sprawled out on the floor. As one the three humans turned to stare at Bumblebee, the Autobot practically glowing with glee and hidden mischievousness.

"I sent him the one chapter just focused on him and Ratchet. And then when he didn't crash after reading that and just sent me an angry comm I sent him the one with him and 'Cade." Bumblebee explained, sounding somewhat proud.

Barricade raised an optic ridge, glaring at Bumblebee. "Excuse me?"

"The one where they keep Miles as a sex socket?" Epps asked, snickering slightly. Miles glared moodily at the older man.

Bumblebee nodded enthusiastically, and Miles turned his glare on him. Barricade growled. "Send me whatever you're talking about, insect."

"Yes sir!" Bumblebee mocked, and Sam and Epps paid attention to their optics once more. Bumblebee's dimmed, and then Barricade's dimmed. Bumblebee's brightened, and Barricade's stayed dim for awhile more until they brightened once more and he stared at Miles.

"Can you really bend your body like that?" The Decepticon Neutral asked, causing Epps and Sam to burst out laughing. Miles huffed, and started to climb off of the med-berth, intent on leaving, when Optimus grabbed him up, holding him in one hand.

"Bend like what?" Optimus asked, out of the loop completely. Bumblebee's optics dimmed once more as he sent the fan fiction to his leader, then one with the Prime, Miles, and Sam, then one with Prime 'taking care of' all his soldiers, organic and Cybertronian alike. "Oh, Primus."

Miles looked at him with a sympathetic gaze, "I know, Big Guy. And it's not gonna go away any time soon with this lot."

Jazz was laughing, setting Epps down to the spot where Miles had been previously, and picking up Prowl, setting him on a separate berth. He poked Ratchet, but didn't get a response. The Medic's optics were still dimmed, indicating he was at least on the internet.

"Ya know, Ah love how inventive ya humans ar'." Jazz said, amusement completely evident. "No' only 'ave ya taken ou' the Hatchet, bu' ya scarred poor Optimus, William, an' Prowler. Ah ain't sure if Prowler will ever be able ta look at Miles again."

"I'm thinking of creating my own account. Personally, I'm a fan of 'Cade, Mi-" Epps ducked as Miles tossed his shoe at him, laughing. "les, and Prowl. Though my OTP would have to be Will and 'Hide."

Ironhide smirked, "I think it's hilarious. I didn't know the Captain could blush."

Epps, Sam, and even Miles laughed. They were stopped short when they heard a loud grinding sound, and then saw as Ratchet came back.

"Primus," Ratchet cursed, sounding oddly strained. "That's it, all of you organics are leaving. I don't care anymore."

"They will be fine then?" Optimus asked, shifting Miles a bit so he could hold the teen on his shoulder. Miles looked around, enjoying the height.

"To put it simply," Ratchet replied. "I don't know. I don't know how they can take it, or why they can. I think it has something to do with the Allspark."

Even Barricade made an incredulous noise, all of the 'bots thinking Ratchet might have finally slipped up and cracked.

Ratchet glared, "There's a slight contingency of Allspark energy residing in all of them. Scan them. Sam and Epps have a just a bit more, which I am going to presume is because they both held the Allspark when it was doing something. Sam has more then Epps, having used it to kill Megatron. Epps has more then Miles, having used it to revive Jazz. I have no clue why Miles has any at all, or Will for that matter, but he has more then Will."

Miles guffawed, "So why could I drink more then Epps?"

"Nanobots. They're Cybertronian technology, something the Allspark energy, however small, can latch on to and understand. I think it's helping you along and progressing you to the point that Sam is at." Ratchet explained, moving over to Prowl and beginning to revive the SIC. "Perhaps even because you're still growing, and Epps is older. I honestly have no idea."

Optimus looked at Bumblebee, "You were able to commune with the Allspark. What do you think?"

Bumblebee shrugged, an entirely human gesture, as he shifted uneasily on his peds. "I am unsure, sir. To a certain extent I can sense the Allspark, but not in them. Perhaps because it is just energy, but I had no clue until Ratchet said someth-" He was interrupted by Barricade comming all of them on a private channel so that Autobots outside the room wouldn't hear.

_:I suggest we discuss this over comm.:_ Barricade.

Prime nodded. _:Bumblebee, continue.:_

_:I had no idea Allspark energy resided in them until Ratchet told us to scan them. I am sensitive to the Allspark, as you all know, but I can not sense anything with them. However, the Allspark shard seems to disperse energy more then the Allspark cube ever did. Trailbreaker mentioned handing it to Miles during the fight, and hours later Miles gave it to Epps. Perhaps it leaked through the container and affected Miles, I do not know. I believe Will held the cube at one point for a very short amount, and was around when Epps used the shard on Jazz. Perhaps we should see if Fig has any energy as well.:_ Bumblebee.

_:It doesn't seem ta be havin' any negative effects on 'em.:_ Jazz.

_:Ratchet, what do you think?:_ Prime.

For a moment there was nothing, the others turning to watch Ratchet until he finally stopped working on Prowl. _:It does not seem to be harming them. In fact, it saved them. That much energon should have and would have killed a normal organic. They're alive.:_

_:That is good then. Any suggestions on what we should do concerning this? There appears to be no cause for worry.:_ Prime.

_:There is a human expressions Will likes to use. Go with the flow. Though he says he mainly uses it in battle, I believe it could be used here as well.:_ Ironhide.

Prime vented softly, the human equivalent of a sigh. _:I suppose that is all we can d-:_ He stopped short as he felt something hit his helm, coming back to his surroundings in time to see a shoe fall back to the ground. There was silence for a moment before they all looked at Miles, still in the palm of Optimus' hand.

Miles snickered, then pointed at Sam. "Not me this time." They all turned to look at Sam.

"Since this is concerning us I believe we have the right to hear whatever you guys are saying." Sam huffed, glaring at all of them. His hands were placed firmly on his hips, and both Miles and Bumblebee couldn't help but think he was channeling Judy Witwicky. "Also, I don't give a frag what you say, I'm going home after this. So is Miles."

"Damn," Miles whistled. "Were you just channeling Judy or somethin'? That was uncanny."

Optimus shifted, setting Miles back down next to Sam. "We are sorry for doing that. As for now you will be allowed to return home, as long as Bumblebee may scan you every day." He paused as he watched Miles look at Sam, then all of them, then back at Sam. "What is it, Miles?"

"I want to tell my parents about you. The whole thing with NEST." Miles replied, causing Epps to perk up.

"Ohh, ohh, I wanna come!" Epps exclaimed cheerfully, causing Miles to give him an incredulous look.

Sam grinned, "I think it would be good if you came, Epps. Also, Bumblebee, Barricade, and Prowl. My guardian and his two guardians."

"I am not his guardian." Barricade narrowed his optics.

"Unofficial guardian. What the frag ever, that counts." Sam just waved him off.

Optimus nodded, "I shall come too. It sounds like a good idea."

Sam smirked, and Miles looked at him wearily. Ratchet kicked them all out of his medbay. The medic would spend the next few days without recharge, dutifully making sure that his organic comrades wouldn't be harmed by the energon if he could help it. He would be relieved to find that only Will, Sam, Epps, and Miles had drank more then the reccomeneded organic amount of Energon. Even more relieved that only Will had reacted badly, and that it had been taken care of by purging his systems.

After that he would try his hardest to predict what the Allspark energy would do.

* * *

><p>They had decided to take his parents to the Look Out, that way the Autobots and Decepticon Neutral could transform to prove their point. Optimus was waiting there to meet them, and Miles brought Epps in his non-sentient car, Sasha. Barricade and Prowl parked somewhere nearby but in separate places in the neighborhood, putting their holoforms inside of Bumblebee so as not to make it look suspicious. Two cop cars at one house could potentially ruin the Lancaster name on accident, something they didn't want.<p>

Bumblebee got there first, and Sam practically dragged Barricade and Prowl out. He talked to Barricade in a low voice, smirking when the 'con nodded. Bumblebee activated his holoform, and watched as Barricade and Sam walked to the front door, Prowl standing in between them with a bewildered expression on his face. Sam knocked, and the door opened to reveal Elizabeth Lancaster.

Sam smiled at her, "Hey Lizzie, it's good to see you again!"

"What have I told you about just calling me mom or grandma, Sammie?" Elizabeth grinned, reaching out and ruffling Sam's hair. "Who are these fine young men with you?"

"I am Barry, you might have heard Miles talk about me." Barricade smirked. "Officer Barry he might have referred to me as. This is my partner, Perry, but he prefers to go by Prowl." He wrapped an arm around Prowl, glancing to Sam to see a shit eating grin on his face. "We're Miles' boyfriend."

In the blink of an eye Barricade and Prowl were gone from the front porch and dragged inside by Elizabeth. Sam smirked as he heard the 'con cussing him out, and walked over to Bumblebee, leaning against his alt form.

Bumblebee raised an eyebrow at him, "Do I want to know?"

"I'm just putting the fear of a mother in them. Maggie can be worse then my mom sometimes." Sam replied innocently, grinning when Bumblebee started to laugh. "I told 'Cade that he'd be getting Miles back for Mason if he told his mom that. The poor fragger believed me."

"You're evil. I'm extremely happy I have you as my Charge." Bumblebee grinned.

The two watched as Miles pulled up, and they watched as Epps and the teen got out of the car. They talked for a bit, Sam purposefully distracting them, and Bumblebee helping. He enjoyed it when his charge was mischievous. He was grinning as he listened in to the humans, but it faded when Prowl commed him.

"Samual, what is a rolling pin? Prowl seems terrified by it at the moment." Bumblebee asked, sounding confused. He didn't bother looking it up on the internet.

Miles, horrified, looked at Sam accusingly. "What the frag did you do?"

"Had 'Cade say that he and Prowl were your lovers." Sam smirked, watching as Epps started to laugh.

"Sam!" Miles ran into the house, the two humans and one Autobot holoform following after him quickly. "MOM PUT DOWN THE ROLLING PIN!" He yelled as he turned the corner to the kitchen.

Elizabeth blinked at her son, smiling innocently. She knew she was caught, having had Prowl and Barricade sit directly next to each other, and had taken out a rolling pin and began to threaten them both with it, looming over them menacingly despite the fact she was smaller then the both of them. Prowl and Barricade were looking at her with wide eyes, having moved even closer together. Neither wanted to admit to being scared by an organic, but awhile ago Bumblebee had managed to talk the both of them into adding on human pain receptors, so they could feel more like their organic friends. They regretted this as they stared at the rolling pen.

"Baby, I was just warning them not to hurt you." She said calmly.

"Mom, Barrica- Barry, was joking. The government thing? They're part of it. I've been given permission to explain it to you and d-" Miles was surprised when his own mother cut him off.

Lizzie waved her hand at him dismissively, putting the rolling pin down on the table. "Yes, yes, I already know. They're actually giant aliens. Prowl is the Second in Command of the Autobots, the blonde one is Bumblebee, another Autobot that doubles as Sam's car, and then Barricade is a Decepticon Neutral."

Miles, Epps, Sam, and the Cybertronians stared at her with gob smacked expressions.

"Us mothers have to stick together. Judy is rather helpful when I need to find something out and it concerns Samual too." Lizzie explained, smirking.

"How long have you known?" Miles asked, still staring at her with a shocked expression. Bumblebee sent an accusing look at Sam, and Sam shrugged, mouthing 'you have a problem, take it up with my mom.' to the Autobot scout.

"Since I found out it involved Samual. So for awhile now." Lizzie moved closer to her son, wrapping him up in a hug.

Barricade growled, "So you still threatened us?" He glared at Lizzie, but quickly backed down when Lizzie glared back.

"If my baby ever gets hurt because of you aliens then all of you will _suffer_." Lizzie glared. "You sleep at some point. And your interiors _can_ catch fire. I imagine those windows of yours can be broken as well." She glanced at Prowl. "I suggest telling that to your leader, too."

Sam snickered, "Miles, I officially love your mom. Not even mine threatened them that much."

Lizzie pulled Sam into the hug, grinning. "Thank you, Sammie. Me and Judy have been talking and think it would be best if us, Ron, and Bob come and visit this NEST base."

"You guys are doomed. Two mothers and two husbands who know better than to stand in their way from the sounds of it." Epps said, smirking at Barricade and Prowl.

Prowl, Bumblebee, and Barricade slowly nodded.


	24. Skids and Mudflap

**AN: So another quick update. I'm off to school in like 20 minutes x_x I wanted to write this quickly cuz I'm more focused on what's coming after then this. Just a short bit advancing the story line.**

**thanks to everyone who reviewed! I don't have time to go through you all and reply like I usually do in an update, so I apologize. (THANKS TO: **_I love cute things, The Result of Squffie, Noella50881, Holen-Snape, BookwormGal, Fk306 animelover, Rockubyebaby, bumblebee girl, writergurl616)_

**VORN: About 83 years**

**Chapter 24  
><strong>_Skids and Mudflap_

* * *

><p>"Ronald, Bob, I do believe I might be in love with your wives." Ratchet said as he sat down at the picnic table, a grin on the holoform's face.<p>

Ron Witwicky and Bob Lancaster just stared at him in shocked silence. In fact, they weren't the only ones to do so. Sam, Miles, Will, Epps, Glen, Fig, Barricade, and Bumblebee sat at the same picnic table as Ron, Bob, and now Ratchet.

Once Miles had actually gotten permission to tell his parents about the big government secret Judy, Sam's mom, and Elizabeth, Miles', proceeded to brow beat their sons until they got permission to come over. It didn't take long before they had permission to stay for the weekend before Thanksgiving break would start.

Currently they were all outside, several picnic tables shoved roughly in one area. Most of the NEST base organic members would be leaving the base to go home for Thanksgiving, and this would count as the small one for the whole base. For those who were staying they would participate in the Cybertronians first ever Thanksgiving, and they couldn't wait.

Miles turned to Sam, "Dude. We'd be like half brothers or some shit if both my mom and your mom got with the Hatchet. And we'd have a Cybertronian in the family. How slagging cool would that be?"

That effectively broke the silence, Epps and Sam laughing. Ron and Bob turned to glare at Miles, Ron grumbling something along the lines of 'traitor'.

"I believe it's time for another beer, Bob." Ron said, grabbing two and handing one of. He looked at Ratchet. "Do I want to know why you're declaring your love for my wife, or should I not even ask?"

Ratchet smirked, "Judy took on Prowl and Elizabeth took on Optimus. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. I've never seen Optimus shamed into recharging before. Not even I'm that good. Judy read Prowl a bedtime story. Well, to be more clear, she read to him from a science book so he wouldn't glitch or spend time thinking over illogical things. I'm not sure if he sent himself to recharge or was actually put to recharge, but both Optimus and Prowl are currently fast asleep."

"Ah, that's the mother in them. I personally know for Lizzie it don't matter if you're her son or not. She'll still bend you over her knee if you're bad, fatten you up, give you a ear to talk to, or just give you a warm hug." Bob grinned, tapping cans with Ron as they popped the lids. "Judy, I've found out, happens to at least be somewhat the same."

"Sarah will be here in a few days with Annabelle. Maybe they can converge together to become the mother's of the NEST." Epps suggested, causing Will to snort.

"Sarah will be more then overjoyed to have other mother's to talk to. Most of the girls here either aren't moms, too busy to be moms, or won't be here whenever she is." Will replied. "Sam, Miles, tell Judy and Liz to bring out the baby pictures."

Sam groaned, but Bumblebee perked up, smirking at his charge. Miles shot Bumblebee a questioning glance, prompting the Autobot scout to reply. "Judy felt it necessary to show me the baby pictures of Sam once she found out I was alive. I have to say, a naked Sam with chocolate cake all over him is my favorite. Especially when he has some on his cute little aft."

There was a moment of silence before the occupants of the table thoroughly enjoyed Sam's embarrassment as he proceeded to yell at Bumblebee for bringing said baby pictures up. Epps, Miles, and Glen guffawed, Will and Fig snickered, Ratchet and Barricade looked highly amused, Bumblebee smirked, and Ron and Bob smiled, shaking their heads in amusement. They tapped their cans of beer together again.

"To them being in diapers seeming not that long ago, damn it." Ron said, grinning.

Bob nodded, "Makes you feel old, doesn't it?"

"Dad, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you were old before I ever arrived on the scene." Miles smirked, causing Bob to smack him lightly over the back of the head.

"Not so old that I felt like yelling at crazy whippersnappers to get off my lawn." Bob replied, then smirked. "Except this time it was crazy aliens."

Barricade glared, "Your beast was attempting to assert it's dominance over me."

"Wait… what?" Sam asked, he and Bumblebee having left with Epps to go meet up with Optimus at the Look Out. Bob, Barricade, Miles, and Lizzie hadn't appeared for over an hour, and when they did they didn't explain why they were held up. Bumblebee sat up straighter, eyes locking on to Miles. Epps and Sam did the same thing, silently demanding the story.

Miles smirked, "Mason got a little… friendly with Barry's leg. Barry freaked out and tried to run, but Mason thought he was playing. Apparently our favorite little 'con was glitching that day, because he let Mason chase him throughout the house for about a half hour. Then he glitched some more and left the house, leaving the door wide open, and Mason chased him around outside for about fifteen or so more minutes." Miles was apparently impervious to the death glare, because Barricade was trying extremely hard to kill him right there and then. The teen continued, not phased in the slightest. "And there I was, mom telling me to go save him, having to chase the both of them around, while yelling at Barry to take a moment and think about dissolving his holoform or whatever the hell they do."

Another pause before the whole table erupted in guffaws, except for Miles and Ron. They had laughed hard enough while it was actually happening, now the amusement was just toned down.

"I was not glitched, I just didn't want to scare your parents." Barricade growled, trying to defend himself.

That backfired spectacularly, Miles grinning. "Personally, I think you just wanted Mason to catch you."

Shocked and amused silence as they waited to see what Barricade would come up with. The 'con just growled, apparently having nothing he deemed appropriate to come back with. That just happened to be a mistake concerning Miles.

"Ohhh, I made the big bad 'con go silent." Miles teased, wearing a shit eating grin.

Epps snickered, "I think a cat has his tongue!"

"That was good, mah bruder!" Glen high-fived Epps, purposefully sounding stupid just to egg everyone on more.

"Well, I'm not surprised. I always thought 'Cade here was a bit glitched." Ratchet smirked.

"You and me both, Ratch. Figured he'd at least be as smart as a human's computer." Bumblebee added. "Guess I was wrong."

"A computer?" Sam asked, snorting. "He's not even up to par with Mason. Let alone a computer."

Miles laughed, "In a few hundred vorns maybe!"

Everyone soon found out that Barricade had had enough of being the butt of everyone's jokes when he stood up, rounded the table to Miles, then proceeded to fling the teen over his shoulder. Miles squeaked.

"Nice manly squeak there, Miles." Fig snickered. "Where you taking him, Barricade?"

Barricade growled, "To the Pit."

"What? Put me down!" Miles whined. "Someone help me!"

Bob waved, "Goodbye son. It was nice raising you."

"Traitors, traitors all of you!" Miles cried as he squirmed and wiggled in the 'cons grasp. He couldn't even escape when Barricade was holding him in place with one hand, and found himself hating the holoform's strength at that moment.

Everyone watched as Barricade and Miles disappeared from view with varying degrees of amusement.

"I'm going to put this on my fan fiction acount." Epps said, grinning.

Will looked at him like he had gone insane. "Why?"

"Do you know how many people here will have a field day over what 'Cadey does to Miles?" Epps asked, his grin turning into a smirk.

"You are a devious man, Epps." Ron chuckled. "I wholly approve you being around my son." Bob nodded in agreement.

"I bet someone will write that Barricade humped Miles in retaliation or asserted his dominance of Miles or some crap." Glen said, grinning. The look quickly disappeared when Bob sent him a look. "Sorry, . It's just so weird having a parent here that I forgot."

Bob snorted, "Tell me about it. I'm drinking a beer, and while Sam and Ron being here, with my son and wife in the general vicinity aren't that odd, there are two aliens sitting at the same table, looking like perfect humans, and three military men. And whatever you are."

"I think I'm still in shock, and I knew about two weeks after Mission City." Ron commented, once more tapping his can against Bob's. It was their way to toast something, or to agree to something.

"Please, I knew about it a few days before Mission City, and I'm still in shock." Will replied, grinning.

"Then I think you have been bumped up to the ranks of us beer drinkers, young man." Bob grinned, handing Will a beer can.

"What about me?" Epps whined.

"You enjoy me son being in perversions. I should kick your ass." Bob replied.

They all laughed, Epps and Fig taking a beer while Glen decided not to. They talked in a companionable way, Ratchet talking to Ron, Bob, and Will while Bumblebee talked to Sam, Epps, and Glen. They'd trade off with Fig. Eventually Jazz walked up to the edge of the picnic area, activated his holoform, and walked over to them. He pushed Glen out of the seat next to Epps.

"Your femmes are wicked scary." Jazz said as he sat down, ignoring Glen's indignant sputtering.

Ratchet smirked, "Tried to wake either Optimus or Prowl? What for?"

"Blaster got a couple a' signals comin' in." Jazz replied, holding Epps down when he got up to help Glen up.

"We brudahs gotta stay together, Jazzy baby." Epps grinned, he did enjoy saying 'brudahs'. "Good signals or bad?"

Jazz snorted, "Brudahs in arms and color before brudahs in color, Robbie. And that depends. The two closest are a toss up."

"A toss up?" Sam asked. Next to him Bumblebee sat up a little straighter, and Ratchet looked at Jazz with disbelief.

"No." Was all the medic said.

"Yes." Was the simple reply.

"Frag." The Scout cursed.

The three then dissolved into Cybertronian. Epps and Sam frowned, looked at each other, and then nodded. They did rock, paper, scissors three times, Epps finally losing. He made angry gestures at Sam, who just smirked in reply. Finally the Sergeant started to count down on his fingers, before proceeding to whack Jazz over the head. There was a stunned silence as Ratchet stopped talking, seeing what Epps did.

"Hello, we stupid humans. We no speak advanced alien robotic shit. Translate." Epps glared.

Jazz rubbed the back of his head, looking at Epps with a betrayed expression. He was the head of Special Ops for a reason, and could usually melt anyone's spark, or heart, if he tried hard enough. Epps, however, wasn't having any of it. He continued to glare at all of them. Jazz sighed, "The closest signals are the twins."

"¿Los gemelos?" Fig asked, confusion evident as Glen moved beside him. Glen hesitated a second when he spoke in Spanish, but as it was fairly evident as to what he said, he decided he was safe and sat next to the man after all.

"Yes. The second, younger, pair of twins. Skids and Mudflap are their designations." Bumblebee explained.

Will raised an eyebrow, "Okay, so what's the big deal?"

"Yeah, do the o-twins and y-twins not get along or something?" Sam asked, quickly shortening it and making it easier to define each set. He was a teenager after all. O for older, and y for younger. Simple. Easy.

"Ya coul' say that, Sammy." Jazz replied, glancing at Ratchet and Bumblebee. "There ain't nothing' real wrong with Skids and Mud, they're just a bit… intense. Ah'd strongly suggest not bein' under their peds, at all. They fight a lot, prank a lot, and generally make a mess outta their presences. An' that's fightin' with each other. Not even countin' the twin wars going on between the older and younger sets."

"I think we can handle them. They sound like overgrown sparklings." Will replied, rolling his eyes when Ratchet snorted and said 'that's about right'. "You said they were the closest signal. What about the others?"

"Ah, righ'!" Jazz exclaimed, expression turning grim. "One of 'em is definitely 'con. The other Ah ain't so sure, Ah think it's Neutral, buh Ah'd need Prowler to 'ave a look at it. 'owever, he's recharging, and so is Prime."

As he talked his eyes turned elsewhere, and several turned to see Barricade was walking back. No Miles in sight.

"Decepticon?" Fig asked, but it was more of a oh god damnit question then an actual question. It was followed by a groan. "Those things have been laying low for awhile."

Barricade sat down, "Starscream ran off awhile ago. We knew Soundwave was here, though."

"Starscream's the new leader, ain't he? Wouldn't he have to be here to order Soundwave around?" Epps asked.

"No." Barricade replied simply. "Soundwave was loyal to Megatron, like I was. I believe Soundwave was working on his own regarding trying to get the Allspark fragment from us."

Bumblebee sighed, "Do you think he's trying to get new Decepticon recruits?"

"It's possible." Barricade took a moment to think. "There were very few of us around here, and I know there are several others who hate Seekers. No way will they listen to Starscream."

"Ya'r certainly bein' more helpful than Ah ever thought ya would be, Barricade." Jazz said softly, examining Barricade. It was fairly evident even through the sunglasses he was wearing.

Barricade sneered, "I'm loyal to Megatron, not that half wit Seeker."

"You're more of a Lancaster then a Decepticon Neutral." Bumblebee grinned.

"I'd still kill you in a heart beat, if that's what you mean, insect." Barricade growled.

Bob snorted, "Lizzie will love that. The Lancaster faction, thing. Another son for her to fuss over. Speaking of sons, where's mine?"

"I gave him to the twins." Barricade smirked.

"Yeah, you took him to the pit alright." Ratchet grumbled. Everyone laughed.


	25. Why are my ribs bruised, Hide?

**AN: Whew, one of my longer chapters!**

**Reviews: (**_member_,_ anonymous reviewer_**)****  
><strong>**Thanks for reviewing and continuing to enjoy this story, **_Fk306 animelover_, _Noella50881_, _Autobot Firekat_, _bumblebee girl_, _TransformerJunkie_, and _shadow-dog18_**!**

_Kat Shadow:_ It's fine that you never reviewed before, but I appreciate you taking the time to review now! I actually do plan to bring in Graham at some point, though whether he'll go with Sides while Sunny has Fig, I dunno. I might just have the both of them have Fig sense I actually think they'd be able to do that, while the other set of twins would just fight over one person. I do have an idea of who might like the other set of twins and stick with them, though. And concerning the relationship aspect, I agree, which is why whenever I wrote anything that I kind of wanted I put it in a oneshot that was an AU of this. So far that's only been BarryxMiles and SamxBee, though. I'm glad you enjoy this, and I hope you will continue to do so!  
><em><span>Rockubyebaby:<span>_ Haha, I think they'd be risking death if they tried that!  
><em>The Result of Squffie:<em> Genderbended Barricade? To me I don't really think there'd be that big of a hub bub about it, at least not with the way I'm righting it. Except maybe femmes would be hit on more or something, I dunno. But I think you should do that idea, it sounds funny!

**Chapter 25  
><em>Why<em> are my ribs bruised, 'Hide?**

* * *

><p>Miles stood in the control roomcommunications center, watching as Blaster, Jazz, and Optimus Prime attempted to talk to Skids and Mudflap. They were able to talk to them using Earth's satellites to play ping pong with the signal, but so far Miles, or any other organic for that matter, had no idea what was being said because they were talking in Cybertronian. He knew they were attempting to find a safe place for the twins to land and a good day to do it to use a cover up.

He heard a Cybertronian come in, but didn't turn around. He froze when he felt a body press close to his, and heard a voice whisper right next to his ear. "We've been found out."

He squeaked, turning around only to find no one there. The holoform had already been dissolved, but he noticed the newest addition to the room: Prowl. He glared up at the SIC, who appeared to be ignoring him.

"Miles?" Optimus asked, Miles turning to face him. The leader had turned to look at him. "Are you okay?"

Miles grinned sheepishly, "I forgot that ma wanted me to come help with something in about five minutes. Sorry Big Guy, I gotta go. Anyone know where she is?"

"Affirmative." Prowl, quickly saying this so it would work out. The whole reason Miles asked is so the two could go talk alone, after all. The SIC picked Miles up and strode out of the room.

"Stop smirking." Miles glared up at Prowl.

"I am not smirking." Prowl replied, faceplates as impassionate as ever.

Miles huffed, "I meant on the inside, fragger. So what happened?"

"The twins. They found out." Prowl walked into his office, setting Miles down on the desk. He sounded amused.

"How?" Miles groaned, letting himself pout just a little bit. The prank was going to be so awesome, and now it was ruined.

"Wheeljack created a device that would let humans detect basic Cybertronian energy given off by both holoframs and holoforms." Prowl sighed. "They were naturally suspicious as to whether someone was messing with them, and managed to steal one. I need to give them more credit, apparently. And some brig time."

"So we abort." Miles stated. "Bummer. Sounds like you'll be busy with both sets of twins anyway."

Prowl nodded, "Unfortunately."

* * *

><p>"So why do we have to stay behind?" Sam asked, staring up at his guardian with a pout.<p>

"Skids and Mudflap are a bit... out there." Bumblebee replied, preferring to use that instead of Ironhide's _'slagging glitched mistakes_'.

Miles snorted, "So much so that we can't come to their landing site, but we can go to the one where the 'con or 'cons will be?"

"Ironhide can shoot the 'con, but not the twins, isn't that right, insect?" Barricade sneered.

Bumblebee nodded, grinning sheepishly. "That, and Ratchet plans to have some of you act as field medics. Your tiny hands can be useful. Like when Miles worked on Barricade."

"Wait, when did Miles work on Barricade?" Epps asked, thinking he missed some major aft kicking.

"Bee gave Barry quite the aft kicking, and he was left to lick his wounds alone." Miles grinned, then froze. "Uh, I mean… Well, frag, sorry Barry.

Everyone but Barricade snorted, the 'con doing his best to glare Miles in to an early death.

"Way to stick your pretty lil' foot in your mouth, _Mimi_." Epps smirked.

Miles glared at the older man. When Barricade had sacrificed him to the Prankster Gods, otherwise known as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, they had decided to make him into a drag queen and deem him Mimi. The teen was still searching for whoever had the pictures that would randomly appear.

The Neutral, or Neutrals, and the Decepticon, or Decepticons, would be landing in a few days, thankfully during Thanksgiving break. The Cybertronians could guess at the size of the ships the 'con and neutral were traveling in, but how many people were inside was a mystery. They could only guess.

There would only be five humans going. Two, Sam and Miles, acting as civilian field medics. Three soldiers, Will, Epps, and Fig. Ironhide, Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Trailbreaker, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe were the Cybertronians that were going. Trailbreaker would act as a shield for the medics, or just the humans when ordered. Optimus would go to guarantee peace and freedom for the Neutral if they were still alive. Ironhide, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe would be the main battle force if it came to that, though Optimus and Trailbreaker would pull back up. Ratchet would be the foremost field medic, and if Trailbreaker was busy Bumblebee would stay with the humans. He was smaller and faster then Trailbreaker, anyway.

Miles and Sam were already receiving a crash course in Cybertronian insides, though Miles knew more then Sam. They both learned how to get in to the hardest places for Ratchet to reach right away, and the places that would lead to immediate or fast death when wounded. They would both carry a backpack with a tool kit inside of it.

* * *

><p>Sam, Miles, and Mikaela were just taken to meet Skids and Mudflap. The three stared up at the goofy Autobots as the two began to fight. Bumblebee had walked off a bit to talk with Optimus and Ironhide, leaving them near the twins.<p>

"_Ah_ ge' ta hol' one of 'em first!" Skids smacked Mudflap as he began to reach for a human. Their speech was ruff, and it took Mikaela a bit longer to figure out what was said as they spoke quickly. Miles and Sam had no problem, having been around Blurr more then her.

"Naw, ya too ugly! Ya face'd scare 'em!" Mudflap.

"We twins, doofus! You ugly too!"

And it quickly dissolved into a brawl, the two brothers attacking eachother as the humans watched. Optimus, Bumblebee, and Ironhide just ignored this, so they assumed it must happen often. The three humans watched with amusement, until a ped got a little too close and they were suddenly in the middle of the two fighting Autobots. Mikaela squeaked, trying to run, only having to dodge a ped as it came out to kick it's brother.

"BUMBLEBEE!" Sam yelled, trying to escape himself.

Optimus and Bumblebee quickly strided over, Ironhide picking up Skids by the back of his neck, and Bumblebee repeating the gesture with Mudflap. Ironhide tossed Skids at the wall hard, and Bumblebee followed suit, Mudflap landing on top of his brother. The twins became a groaning heap of metal.

* * *

><p>The five humans stood together in a wide expanse of open desert, binoculars practically glued to their faces as they watched the Neutral space craft be chased by the Decepticon space craft. The seven Cybertronians stood far away from their tiny organic friends, gesturing and attempting to talk to the whoever was on the Neutral ship to get them to land so they could protect them. Currently the two ships were playing chase through the sky over their heads, and it was already obvious who would when. The Neutral ship was surprisingly tiny, and looked like it was barely managing to hold together. No one could see how it managed to fly, much less take the sharp turns necessary to avoid the Decepticon fire. Compared to the Neutral ship, the Decepticon ship was large.<p>

Epps whistled, "Alien. Definitely alien."

The other humans couldn't help but silently agree, despite all they had already been through with the seven Cybertronians standing far away from them for their own safety. After the initial shock had worn off it was easy to accept the Cybertronians and not really think about how they came from outerspace. It was even easier to accept when there had previously been little to no Decepticon activity, so the fighting had been non-existant for the human faction of NEST. They were riveted by the riveted by the chase going on above them, how the Neutral ship could evade so effectively despite looking ready to fall apart, how the Decepticon ship kept chasing no matter what.

And then the Decepticon ship managed to land a hit, having dropped down below the Neutral ship just as it turned a corner to run off again, and appeared in front of it instead. The Decepticon ship lifted up as the Neutral ship did a sudden nose dive. Right near where the humans were standing.

"GO, GO, GO!" Will yelled, not even needing a moment to think about it. He ran, Epps, Fig, Miles, and Sam following suit quickly.

When it hit they were safe, but the tremor that rushed through the ground at the impact knocked them all flying, and not long after they fell to the ground the tremor was followed by a blast of hot air. Miles and Sam stayed down, dazed and eyes burning from the hot air, while Epps, Will, and Fig were quickly back on their feet. Two of the soldiers took off running to where their Cybertronian comrades were, while Epps stayed back to help out Miles and Sam. Trailbreaker broke away from his fellow Autobots, moving to the humans when Optimus ordered him to do so, and check the ship for survivors.

"_Primus,_" Sam muttered as Trailbreaker helped him to stand steadily. "I thought I was all good with earthquakes because of Prowl."

Epps helped Miles up, "You guys ain't used to bein' knocked flat on your asses."

"Optimus wishes for us to check out the ship." Trailbreaker cut in before Sam could reply. He didn't mind if the humans held their own conversations, but at the moment there was something a little more important.

The three nodded, following Trailbreaker as he strided toward the downed ship. They had to jog to keep up with the mech at a sensible pace, but none voiced a complaint. In the distance they could hear the sounds of metal clashing with metal, and the sound of gunfire. They paused outside the ship, watching as Trailbreaker hacked into it and the door slid open. While it seemed bigger to the humans up close, they knew it was tiny compared to most Cybertronian ships, and could probably only house about five mechs safely, not basing their size off of a normal mini-con, that is. If it was mini-cons then there would be a good few more.

Trailbreaker picked the three up, holding Sam and Miles while Epps rode on his shoulder. The first place he went was the command center, and the humans heard him muttering in Cybertronian as soon as the door opened. As they got closer they could see why. A mech was sitting at the controls, slumped over and the optics offline. There was evidence of him being in battle, poorly welded together wounds and stains of energon along the frame. Trailbreaker set the humans down outside of the room and closed the door behind them, effectively keeping them out.

"Think he'll make it?" Miles asked softly.

Epps didn't bother to answer the question, instead steering Sam and Miles away from that door and down the hall. "We have to search for other passengers."

The two boys nodded, following the soldier as they walked close to eachother. The first room they entered showed another mech, looking much like the first one, except this one was slumped against the wall and his spark chamber was wide open. It was extinguished. The next room seemed to be the medbay, and a Cybertronian femme layed on a berth, a mech that sat beside her half slumped over her. The femme was battered and war torn, but the mech was in reasonably good shape. There was no question the femme was dead, but Epps moved in closer to check the mech.

"Is that... a femme?" Miles asked softly, whispering, as if speaking any louder would disturb the dead femme, and seemingly dead mech by her side. It was the first femme any of them had seen, and they all knew how rare a femme was. Some of the mechs that Ironhide would talk about while over energized hadn't seen a femme once in their lifetime.

Sam swallowed, whispering. "Primus. Bee, he told me, about... _Sparkmates._ Where if one offlines then the second one usually does, too." Both teens averted their eyes, Epps returning to them and shaking his head. The mech was dead. He put one hand on one of both of their shoulder's.

"C'mon, boys. Let's go." He whispered softly, gently leading them out of the room. He was a soldier, and had been for years. The sight of the two like that wouldn't get to him now, not in the moment where he needed to be calm and head cleared of unrational emotions, but it would later. He knew the teens couldn't exactly help themselves, and he didn't say anything when Sam's eyes misted over as the teen looked back at the two Cybertronians over his shoulder.

They were about to enter one of the last rooms when Miles heard something that sounded odd, a good familiar odd, but odd non the less in the startling quiet of the Neutral ship. It was coming from the very last room in the corridor, and he turned towards it. "Do you guys hear that?"

Epps nodded, "It sounds like Cybertronian! Let's check it out."

The three practically sprinted towards the room, but had to stop when they reached the door. The pounded on it, hoping whoever inside would open up, and after a moment the door slid open. They rushed in, only to stop in shock. It was another femme, this one alive, and desperately reaching out to them as she spoke in broken Cybertronian. From her wounds and the pain in her optics it was obvious she wouldn't last long.

"She's gonna die if she doesn't get help now! We need Ratchet for this!" Miles exclaimed worriedly, taking a deep breath before screaming. "TRAILBREAKER GET YOUR AFT IN HERE!" The femme flinched at the sudden unexpected loud tone, her whirling and clicking getting more frantic as the sound of running peds could be heard. Trailbreaker entered, and stared at the femme in shock for a moment.

"I'll comm Ratchet." Trailbreaker said in clear English, for the benefit of the humans, and then he switched to Cybertronian, telling the femme he would be calling the best medic around. The femme keened as Ratchet did so, and after a moment Trailbreaker started using a long list of human cuss words. He had obviously been spending too much time at the soldier's poker games again. "He's under fire, I gotta go bring him here! You guys work on her, you'll be able to seal any wounds better than me." And with that he ran back out.

Epps was at a loss as to what to do, and he could see panicked expressions on Miles' and Sam's faces. He pulled himself together, "Okay, you two, you're the medics, get to work!"

They both started, Miles slinging off his backpack and pulling out the large tool kit. He held it up to the femme, Ratchet having put symbols that meant Medic trainees in Cybertronian on to it. Sam moved closer to the femme, sliding his pack off and pulling his own tool kit out. He stopped when the femme reached out and wrapped a gentle but shaking hand around him, clicking and whirling at him desperately. He stared at her with wide eyes, unsure what to do and fearing that she'd squash him in the back of his mind.

After a few moments the femme seemed to get that he couldn't understand her, letting out a frustrated and pain filled screech. The next second all three humans could feel the kind of scan Ratchet tended to avoid, this one being more thorough and personal. Using her other hand she pointed at a body lying underneath some rubble, and the humans looked. It was a lot smaller then a normal Cybertronian, and it was obvious a previous shot from the Decepticon ship and made some of the Neutral's ship collapse on to it.

Miles gasped, "Is that a sparkling?"

Sam and Epps gaped at Miles, and then the little body. There was no way it could have survived that. The metal itself was unsalvagable, and they could just barely recognize what the pile of metal was supposed to be for. There attention was drawn back to the femme when she let out a tiny keen, and her chestplates moved aside to reveal her spark. Orbiting around it was another, tinier spark.

"_Primus! _The sparkling is still inside of her! The body she would have put it in is destroyed!" Epps sounded horrified, and Miles and Sam soon looked horrified. Epps had been given more of the Cybertronian birds and the bees then the two teens had, and knew what he was seeing. Ratchet had used diagrams.

The femme grabbed Miles up, the teen giving a startled cry, and shoved him into the same hand that she was using to hold Sam. The two were squashed together almost painfully so she could hold them, and she put them closer to her spark chamber, clicking and whirling frantically. The two watched as her own spark dimmed a bit, the tiny spark beside it doing the same a moment later. _Both_ of them were _dying_ all three realized with a small amount of shock, Epps coming to this conclusion on his own.

Tentatively Miles reached out, touching the tiny sparkling. He felt a jolt of electricity run through him, but it was Sam and Epps that gave a startled cry.

"What the hell just shocked me?" Epps cried out, looking around for anything dangerous. Sam followed suit, and Miles was about to say something when all three stopped in shock.

"Please, please, help my baby! My sparkling, you have to save my sparkling!" The femme begged, but she was still speaking in Cybertronian. They could hear the distinctive whirls and clicks of the language, but it was like their minds were automatically changing it to a language they could understand. They all looked at one another to make sure it was just them individually and that they weren't going insane. "My mate-dead! I will die! My sparkling-please!"

Sam squirmed in her grasp, trying to get out to do something, to do anything. _We have to do something to save the baby!_, he thought. And that was when their worlds seemed to dissolve around them.

* * *

><p>Will growled to himself, hiding behind Ironhide as he fumbled to reload. Fig was crouched on the ground near him, grumbling things in Spanish. When he felt a shock go through him he dropped his gun and the sabet rounds in shock, causing Fig to look at him with barely concealed worry. They were friends after all, though he wasn't as close to Fig as he was to Epps. Fig just happened to have a big Spanish heart.<p>

"IRONHIDE!" Will shouted, turning to glare up at the back of the black gmc truck. "What the hell just shocked me?"

Ironhide didn't even look at him, intent on guarding them while Ratchet did some patch ups on Sideswipe. Trailbreaker was by the Medic's side, trying to get his attention away from the patient. He started to talk to Optimus in Cybertronian, and Will was about to yell again, when he could suddenly _understand_ what was being said.

"-wrong with Will. Should I get him out of here towards the Neutral ship?" Ironhide.

"That may be best if something is ailing him. We do not want to lose one of the tiny organics." Optimus.

Will practically snarled, "Okay, what the _slag_ is going on? You are not taking me away from the fi-!" He froze as his world dissolved around him, but to the others he just froze. Eyes wide open and unblinking, mouth still open in mid word. The only movement he made was to breathe.

"Ironhide, something is wrong with Will!" Fig went over to his Captain quickly, trying to catch the man's attention.

"RATCHET! WILL NEEDS YOU!" Ironhide yelled, bending down to scan the Captain's body multiple times.

* * *

><p>They were all there in that unknown place, and they could all sense eachother but didn't know how. Just the feeling of <em>Epps. <em>Just the feeling of _Sam_. Just the feeling of _Miles_. Just the feeling of_ Will_. It was indescribable, and later on they would just say they knew it was eachother. They knew that wherever they were was safe. There was no light, but it wasn't dark. It wasn't cold or hot, dry or wet. It just _was_. They didn't have any bodies, they just _were_. It didn't feel empty, but comfortable. All four of them were there and that felt just right. They had eachother.

And then came Sam's thought, echoing in the place that wasn't anything but was everything at the same time. _We have to do something to save the baby!_

And with it came the knowledge to Will, not words, but images and feelings. Feelings from all three. Feelings from the femme. Feelings from the Sparkling. The others just felt the feelings from eachother, Will, the femme, and the sparkling that wasn't.

Then there was nothing, and almost hesitantly Miles sent emotions towards all of them. Fear, confusion, sorrow, pain, guilt, hope, no hope. _Do anything_. They sent agreement back, attached with whatever other emotions they were feeling. There was a lot of confusion, some fear coming from the younger of the four, and some anger coming from the older of the four. They realized that wherever they were it didn't involve bodies, but that realization faded into the background. It didn't feel weird. Just natural, comforting even. There wouldn't be anything happening to them in this place.

Then Epps sent them Optimus' voice, the sound once more echoing around them. A conversation the two had together when Will had been sick and Epps had been filling in for his duties.

_There have been little to no sparklings since the beginning of the war, Robert. And that was long before your planet was even made. In fact, I believe Bumblebee has never seen an actual sparkling besides in the data we used to teach him with while raising him. He was just going into younglinghood himself when the war started. But even before that there were fewer and fewer sparklings being made due to the decline, and the way things seemed to be heading. A sparkling was seen as a blessing._

Once the last echo had faded the idea of what would be done to save the sparkling came to them. Energy was needed, and they were more then willing.

But then Will felt a sudden pain, the place of everything and nothing flickering for just a moment. It whiplashed, pinging to Sam, then Miles, and then Epps. Fear and pain became Will's dominant emotions as he tried to think. This place made it hard to do that. Conveying things with emotions was so much easier then forming actual thoughts in their head's. Fear echoed back from the other three, as well as confusion and worry.

* * *

><p>"...You are extremely lucky Ratchet was not here to see that." Optimus speaking softly.<p>

"I wanted to see if he would move if I flicked him." Ironhide.

"Your _flick_ just bruised his _ribs_ and knocked him over, old friend. You get to explain it to him, and Ratchet." Optimus. Fig merely stared dumbfounded at the fallen body of his friend.

* * *

><p>In the place that was everything and nothing at the same time Will tried to convey something through his sudden and confusing pain. He felt dumbed down and sluggish, while the other three just felt a bit hazy. Like everything was a bit more difficult. On the third try he managed to send the right emotions. Tired, patient, experienced, war-hardened, ready to fight. He aimed this at the two teens. Then he sent the feeling of wanting more to them, and tired again.<p>

It clicked for Sam quicker, and the teen sent agreement. Miles followed soon after once he got it. Epps sent agreement to all of them, and the feeling of being pleased. The teens would give most of the energy, the soldiers only giving some so when they came back to wherever they were going they'd be more ready to get up and fight if need be.

Then everything started to fade, and the last thing anything any of them got was a single name. Then the place that was everything and nothing dissolved into blackness and nothingness.

* * *

><p>"The Allspark energy in them is building up to a startling level, Ratchet." Bumblebee, trying to sound calm though the worry in his optics gave him away.<p>

"Frag it all!" Ratchet, giving up hope on saving the femme. He knew there was no way to save the sparkling, though the femme kept pleading with him. He had put her offline so she wouldn't feel pain anymore.

Silence before Bumblebee spoke again. "Ratchet scan them and keep your scans on them! It's like the energy's travelling through them and heading towards the femme!" Awe and confusion in his voice. Sam and Miles were practically bathed in the energy, it running through their bodies and dancing across their skin as it left them. Epps had more then he previously did, but not as much as the teens.

Ratchet turned quickly, doing just that before the room filled with a bright light coming from the femme's spark chamber. Both of the Cybertronians froze, the light blinding to even them, and the sense of _don't move_ coming to their processors. They both sent out an alert to their fellow Autobots on the mission with them.

* * *

><p>"Prime, what the <em>frag<em> is wrong with him?" Ironhide.

"I do not know, my scans only show that he has a lot more Allspark energy then before. It seems to be dispersing to somewhere." Optimus.

"_WHAT THE FRAG DOES THAT MEAN?_"

"I am no medic, old friend. I can not say."

Silence as they all got the emergency alerts from Bumblebee and Ratchet, minus Fig.

"Trailbreaker, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker, stay here and make sure the Decepticons do not come back. Guard William and Figueroa." The Autobot leader ordered, about to run for the Neutral ship.

Ironhide picked up Will, holding him firmly in a hand, and took off sprinting. "Just guard Fig!"

* * *

><p>By the time they got there a bright light had engulfed the entire inside of the ship, some of it shining through. As they stepped in, heedless of it, it receded quickly, and they followed its path, optics on the ground and careful to avoid looking at until they adjusted to it.<p>

They came up to Ratchet and Bumblebee, both of them slumped on opposite sides of the corridor of the ship as they stared at the last room, the door just sliding shut as all the light receded inside of it. Through their comms they had a quick conversation, Ratchet and Bumblebee saying what was in there and what they knew had happened. Optimus and Ironhide saying that Allspark energy became more pronounced in Will, too, and that it seemed to be going somewhere, though unlike with Sam, Miles, and Epps they couldn't tell where. They tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. All of them were reluctant to use force because they could be certain where the bodies of the organic's layed, and they didn't want them to come to harm. They all started when they heard a sudden groan, staring at the now moving organic in Ironhide's servo.

Will sat up, and groaned. "Now _that_ was _wild_." He looked up, glancing at all four Cybertronians. Ratchet was already reaching for him, but he quickly dodged, jumping off of Ironhide's hand. "Wait!"

All of the Autobots froze, staring at Will. Not only had he jumped out of Ironhide's hand, which Ironhide would normally berate him for, but he had outright denied Ratchet, the Chief Medical Officer. The soldier ignored them, walking toward's the door. It slid open, and he walked in, disappearing from sight as the Autobots made no moves to follow, and the door slid closed again.

Ratchet was the first to snap out of it, and he stormed towards the door, the others following suit. Once it opened they all went inside, only to freeze. In the middle of the room was a sparkling body, in perfect condition. Sam and Miles layed near to it, both awake and just staring at the ceiling in a dazed and tired manner. Epps sat beside the body, grinning up at Will, who had just walked over to him. The femme's body remained where it had been up against the wall, though some plating and what appeared to be some other parts was missing.

Epps looked at the Autobots with a smirk, amused that they were the ones who were shocked and in disbelief for once. "Scan 'im."

They all did so without thinking, stepping closer. Their scans registered the sparkling as alive, and healthy, if in need of some good energon.

"Alright, men, who besides me barely remembers what happened?" Will asked, turning to his fellow humans. Epps nodded, and Miles just nodded as he struggled to sit up, using Sam to do so. Sam groaned, mumbling something in agreement as he continued to lay there. "Okay, good. Not just me then. Who else has a name nagging the shit out of them for this little guy?" They all nodded in response, Sam finally managing to get himself into an upright position.

Bumblebee was torn between confusion and excitement. The excitement ran out. "Name him whatever you want, it's an actual Sparkling!" He practically ran over the last few steps, getting on his knees to examine the tiny Cybertronian more closely. Ironhide moved over beside him, staring in amazement.

Sam watched his Guardian with a little amusement, Will catching his eye and nodding. Epps did the same with Miles, and they all turned to look at Optimus and Ratchet. Will counted down from five, and they all spoke together. "Orion."

Optimus stared at them, looking as dumbfounded as a Cybertronian could get. "That... That was my name before the matrix chose me. Orion Pax."

Ratchet looked from his leader, to the humans, to the sparkling and the two Autobots currently examining it. "What the _slag_ is going on?"

Sam and Miles let the adults do the talking, leaning against the wall tiredly as they watched. The name was one of the only clear things they could remember, that and the fact that it had been the four of them. It wasn't long before both fell asleep, feeling utterly drained, but satisfied by somehow saving the sparkling, even if it would never make sense to them. It helped that Ratchet was using a lot of text book terms, reverting to that when he was confused or shaken. They were both in dreamland before the 'bots and the soldiers had even started talking about what would happen. They talked of the sparkling first.

* * *

><p>Miles slowly regained conciousness, opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling. It was somewhat familiar, but disconcerting in the fact that he couldn't remember why and it wasn't a place he frequented regularly. It wasn't until he allowed what he was hearing around him to register that he realized where he was. The steady drip of an IV, the beeping of a heart monitor. He was in the medbay, the human medbay. He had been in it only on tour, and had been in the Autobot medbay much more often. For himself and any Cybertronians that wanted or didn't mind him there.<p>

To say he felt horrible was an understatement. His head pounded, a full blown migraine coursing through it, and his entire body was stiff and sore, like he had excersized too much. His eyelids felt like they had five pound weights on them, and his throat was raw and dry.

He tried to recall how he had ended up in the medbay, and just barely remembered the mission. Everything after they had arrived to wait at the wide expanse of desert was blurry, and when the pounding in his head grew stronger he just gave up.

"You're awake, I see." A voice said from off to his side, and he didn't need to look to know it was Barricade, most likely in holoform. While the human medbay was big enough for Cybertronians, in case Ratchet was needed, it was preferred that they use their holoforms while inside of it. "Ratchet's been giving us different times to sit with you and Samual for when you wake up. It's fragging annoying. How do you feel?"

"Like I was tackled by thirty football players and then a herd of buffalo went on a stampede, the only ground available being my head." Miles rasped out, cracking a grin.

Barricade snorted, "The one time Sam woke up he said it felt like Optimus and Megatron had drank too much highgrade and decided to do the tango on his body, mostly around his cranial region. You woke up once, but didn't do anything besides eat."

"Once? How long have I been out?" Miles asked, trying to gather enough energy to attempt an effort to make an effort to sit up.

"About three days. Thanksgiving is in two." Barricade got up and walked away, leaving Miles to wait. He came back, putting a glass of water in Miles' hand. "Told a fleshling to come give you something for the pain."

Miles thanked him, sitting up and drinking on his own. He doubted Barricade would help him, and he wasn't going to ask for that kind of help unless he absolutely needed it. "The sparkling? Orion?"

"He's fine, somehow. Go ahead and go back to sleep, Ratchet will come to wake you in a bit."

Miles smiled with relief, putting the glass to the side and laying back down. He was out not even a minute after closing his eyes.


	26. Primus save the Caramelldanseners

**AN: So. My magical brain decided that I wanted Ironhide and Barricade to do the caramelldansen dance. So naturally it has to because of Miles, _somehow_, and it needs to involve the new sparkling Orion. SO YEAH. LOVE IT.**

**Reviews:** (It's late so no real responses)  
><strong>THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! (<strong>_IchigoRenji, Autobot Firekat, shadow-dog18, Holen-Snape, writergurl616, and Fk306 animelover_**!)**

Chapter 26  
><em>Primus save the Caramelldansen-ers<em>

* * *

><p>If Ratchet found out they would most likely end up in the Pit, but that didn't deter Miles in the slightest. He woke Sam up, helped turn off his machines and then unhook the teen from all of them, and then handed Sam a pair of clothes Fig had snuck him to help with the escape. It turned out Ratchet was being more paranoid then usual, and Epps and Will were locked up with them. Technically they were supposed to stay until Thanksgiving morning, but Miles had already woke up and had a talk with Barricade, and after waking up again he had felt relatively fine. Sam had woken up around dinner time, and the two had been allowed visitors.<p>

Now it was about two in the morning, and the two carefully and quietly as possible crept out of the med-bay, aiming to get past the nameless male nurse that was supposed to be watching over them. Their other adult companions were sleeping peacefully, while the nurse himself appeared to be sleeping, leaned back in a chair as he sat at a desk. The two were almost to the door before a familiar voice rang out.

"Ratchet has stated you two are to stay here." Barricade drawled, the teens freezing mid step.

Miles was torn between reluctant amusement and being slightly miffed. "You fragging 'con. That's cheating!" Both teens turned around to look at the 'male' nurse, Miles glaring as Sam looked slightly baffled and disappointed. "Changing your slaggin' holoform? That's dirty."

Barricade's holoform smirked, "Decepticon here, or have you forgotten, squishy?"

"Decepticon, not the-faction-that-follows-Ratchet." Miles huffed in reply, glaring weakly at Barricade.

"Wrenchers." Sam offered, grinning.

"In my case it would be more like Mothers." Barricade said, glaring at the both of them as he did so. He blamed them entirely.

Miles smirked, "If the Mothers splits up you are so a Lancaster, you aft."

"My mom won't care if I let her baby me a bit, not even that if we don't manage any trouble." Sam shrugged. "We want to go see Orion."

"No." Was the simple reply, Barricade reclining once more in the chair he had claimed.

"But Barry," Miles started to whine. "We've been good boys, we earned it!"

Sam smirked, just leaning against the wall. He knew his best human friend wouldn't give up until there was a good reason to, and orders didn't necessarily count as a good reason. It was only ten minutes before Barricade caved, Miles cheering before he froze as Will yelled at him to shut up.

Sam snickered, "Smooth move, there. Can we go now?"

Barricade's holoform dissolved, and the two teens left the human med-bay. As they walked to the Autobot section of NEST Barricade's bipedal form joined them, leading them to the sparkling's room. He told them what they had missed, and what would be coming up.

Ratchet would be running a lot of tests on them, having already performed some on Epps and Will. The debriefing had been put on hold until Sam and Miles could join it, since if all four humans who had experienced whatever it was that had happened were there they might be able to remember something from what another might end up saying.

Halfway there they were met by Bumblebee, the Autobot scout picking Sam up almost immediately and scanning him.

"Jeez Bee," Sam huffed half-heartedly. "I'm fine."

"Ratchet said you were not to be up and about yet." Bumblebee replied, but fell into step beside Barricade anyway. His scans told him Sam was alright, if not a little fatigued.

Miles snorted, "Ratchet's a slaggin' mother hen. I'll almost feel bad for Orion the first time he gets a scraped knee or something."

"Poor sparkling won't even be allowed to move." Barricade snickered, causing Miles to grin up at him. The 'con was at least relaxing a bit around Bumblebee and a few other 'bots.

"More like whoever let Orion get a scraped knee will be slagged to the pit, brought back, slagged again by whoever else wants to, and then left there." Bumblebee grinned. "And then he will not be allowed to move."

"Primus help them." Sam laughed. "But this will be really cool. Orion will have a Aut-Cybertronian family, and a human family. Is anyone going to be playing Creator?"

Bumblebee shrugged slightly, "I imagine it will be like how it was with me. A group effort, though Ironhide and I imagine Prowl will be the most mother hen-ish, as you call it." He laughed when the two teens did a double take at Ironhide. "Ironhide has some of the strongest Guardian protocals around, one reason he's also known as Optimus' bodyguard. Prowl has actually helped raise a sparkling that he adopted from Praxun, a city on Cybertron. Both he and the sparkling, Bluestreak, are Praxian, so they both lost their homes at the same time."

"The gunner?" Barricade asked, getting a nod from Bumblebee. He smirked, "He shot Starscream in the aft. I like him."

"Awesome shot, great personality, but he can talk anyone's ear off. I pray to Primus that he and Blurr never somehow make a sparkling together, no one would be able to understand that thing." Bumblebee joked. He grinned when the teens laughed and Barricade snorted.

"So what are they like? Optimus, Ratch, Hide, and whoever else raised you?" Miles asked, still on the ground and walking. He was doing well enough to keep up with the two Cybertronians, trailing slightly behind as he didn't want to make the effort to jog and keep up with them.

"It was mainly Optimus, Ratchet, and Ironhide. There were other mechs, certainly, but they were the main three." Bumblebee explained. "Both Optimus and Ironhide tended to let me get away with whatever I wanted. Ratchet was the one who had to crack down and punish me if I got out of hand, since Ironhide and Optimus tended to crack if I pulled out the big guns, so to speak." A grin. "I became even worse once Jazz started to stay on with us and taught me how to prank, sneak around without being noticed, and so on. When I first got hurt it would be Ironhide who fussed the most, Ratchet who fussed the longest, and Optimus who got me away when I got cranky at them, or who distracted me with energon goodies. Ironhide tended to give me whatever I wanted, while Optimus would hold back a bit, but would be more lenient with letting me stay up late and run around."

"So those three have been together for awhile?" Sam asked, leaning back in Bumblebee's hand. He spoke louder than normal so Miles could hear him, too.

"Yes. Ratchet and Ironhide are older, born around the same time if I'm not mistaken, give or take a few years." Bumblebee smiled. "Speaking of Ironhide, I believe he is with the sparkling now. We take shifts, generally, when the sparkling is supposed to be asleep." A pause before he glanced to Barricade with amusement. "Everyone was a bit surprised about how well our little 'con acted with the sparkling, he almost rivals Ironhide. In fact, the two have even teamed together to yell at Skids and Mudflap for saying slag around Orion. Who would have guessed Barricade was a softie for children?"

Barricade growled, "You should not tell them lies, insect."

"Well that explains why he went for Miles." Sam grinned.

"Hey!" Came Miles indignant reply, though it was ignored as Bumblebee laughed and Sam snickered. Barricade just smirked. The three kept walking, Sam comfortable in Bumblebee's hand and the Autobot content with letting Miles walked unless he appeared to get tired or asked to be helped. They got to Orion's room, a big plaque on the door stating his name in Cybertronian glyphs and in English.

Bumblebee went right inside, Barricade and Miles following. Ironhide looked at them over the top of a data pad he was reading, glaring at them and putting a finger up to his mouth to gesture quiet. On his lap lay Orion, recharging peacefully. Bumblebee grinned.

"Thought Ratchet said he wanted Orion to start sleeping on his own berth?" Bumblebee asked.

Ironhide glared, "He was so lonely. Practically called for me."

"Projecting much?" Bumblebee snorted, setting Sam down. Miles was already next to the black GMC topkick, and attempting to climb his legs to get closer to Orion. "I believe you two will be the first humans he actually interacts with. So far we've kept him at bay. We wanted all four of his saviors to be here, but of course you two just couldn't wait."

"Us, wait? Think you got us mixed up with someone else there, Bee." Sam replied, grinning up at his guardian before high tailing it over and climbing up Ironhide's leg as well. The Weapons Specialist just grunted a bit, putting the data pad down to watch.

Miles stopped near to the sparkling, but far enough away he wouldn't wake it up, and just made himself comfortable. Sam did the same. The three mechs watched in amusement as the two teens made little comments back and forth to each other over how the sparkling looked, and how it would need a paint job. Right now it was just the basic metallic grey.

"That's because generally the parents would decide, or the sparkling would be given the parents colors. However the colors happened to be lime green and red for the mech and pink and purple for the femme. We're currently fighting over the colors, but we do intend to include at least one of his original creator's coloring." Bumblebee explained. "We cleaned off the paint that he had on before."

"Before?" Sam asked, trying to think back. He and Miles had been lying on the floor instead of looking at the sparkling, just happy he was alive, and dead tired from the energy drain. This brought up another question to his mind. "How did he get his body anyway?"

The three mechs started to talk in Cybertronian, and Sam huffed in annoyance. Miles grinned at him, but the grin faltered for a moment. He leaned in close to Sam, whispering in his friends ear.

"Think about understanding them, like how we did before we all went to that place."

Sam hesitated just a bit, before listening to his friend. He concentrated, and after a moment he began to understand them again, though he would miss a few words, and it was hard to keep it up. If he tried hard enough he could get the gist of what they were saying. He shared a look with Miles, and both of them grinned. No way were they going to say anything, in fact they would get Will and Epps alone and tell them about it. They figured the older males would be more then willing to keep quiet if it meant being able to understand the Cybertronians when they went on a 'human need not hear' tangent.

Miles decided to do what they usually would: complain about being left out of the conversation. No need to make them suspicious, or more likely worry that the teens were still tired. "Guys, humans here! No speak Cybertronian!" Which wasn't a lie, not technically. They couldn't speak it, but they could understand it.

Ironhide and Barricade looked pointedly at Bumblebee, causing the scout to vent softly. "While you guys were out your bodies started to produce an alarming amount of Allspark energy, which seemed to leave you and go elsewhere. I presume this was Orion's spark, strengthening it and stabilizing it even as his creator femme's spark was dying. He was not yet ready for separation, which would have been iffy if he had been moved to a body as he was. It would be like a premature baby on your world. Some survive, some die. Some survive but have defects and just aren't right. However you somehow also managed to get him a body made together in a short amount of time, parts from his femme creator and his mech creator helping out. We honestly have no idea, and I think Primus must have been smiling down on us and teasing us at the same time because there was a light so bright even we couldn't really see much until our optics adjusted, and by then it was basically too late." A pause, almost hesitant, before asking, "What was it like?"

Sam opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Miles.

"_Craaazy_!" Miles exclaimed, shooting a quick glance to Sam with a small grin, before returning his attention to the mechs. "I guess Primus, the Allspark, or whatever was going for a peaceful setting that we had all been in and felt safe, right? Because I swear it looked exactly like the human rec-room. Except it was almost eerily quiet, and it was only us four. I remember looking outside the window and it was just white mist. Personally, I thought I was dreaming or something." He paused, and Sam nodded, trying not to grin. Miles was completely bullshitting them, and they didn't even know. "And we all just kind of stared at each other, and then the tv turned on. This face appeared, but we couldn't really make it out. The screen kept going fuzzy, and it seemed like whoever it was was in a dark room. So then we noticed these spark looking things floating around."

Sam decided to step in. "Which apparently were sparks, because the mech/femme/whoever on tv suddenly ordered one of them to get us refreshments and bring us entertainment when they got back because the mech/femme/whoever had a 'fragging long list' of meetings and the humans had to be put on hold for just a minute."

"So we sit there, and it was either me or Epps who cracked first and started talking-" Miles continued, Sam cutting in with an 'it was you', before letting Miles continue once more. "And, anyway, so we hear someone come in through the door and it's _Megatron_ in a _maid's outfit_ holding a tray with energon goods. We all just stare, Sam looking absolutely terrified, when the mech/femme/whoever comes back and practically yells at Megatron something along the lines of: No, Megsy, you do not give the humans energon, even if they can drink it. Go bake them some cookies!" A pause as he lets that sink in. "So Megatron practically storms out, slams the door, and then nothing. We all look to Will, even Epps, because he's the Captain, and should like know immediately what to do or something, and he just looks dumbfounded and slightly scared himself. Me? I'm amused because I still think it's a dream, so I chirp something about the dark side having cookies after all, and that I should have convinced Barry to go with Starry because I bet they would have been _damn_ good."

Bumblebee rolled his optics, "Lost us at Megatron, though him in a maid's outfit is a funny mental image."

"Think we should have Sunny paint it and send it to Prowl?" Sam asked, grinning. Bumblebee was about to reply, when Orion suddenly gave a loud cry and continued to do so, startling both the teens and the Cybertronians. Sam ended up slipping off his perch and landing on the ground.

Miles stared at the crying sparkling with wide eyes, "What's wrong with him?"

"You guys came and I forgot to get his late night energon." Ironhide grumbled, sounding slightly upset.

"Sam and I will go get Ratchet to mix him the right type." Bumblebee picked his charge up, quickly holding him before he could protest.

"I don't want to go see the Hatchet, I've been disobeying orders!" Sam whined, trying to escape even though he knew it was futile.

Miles laughed at his friend, which seemed to draw Orion's attention because his cries quieted as he stared at Miles with wide optics.

"Hey lil' guy." Miles cooed, reaching out and touching the sparkling gently. He was surprised when he was pulled into an awkward kind of hug by the now giggling sparkling, and then squeezed. "Oh wow, s-" A pause as he tried to escape. "So you guys are strong even while you're little, huh?"

Barricade smirked, "Orion's just good like that." Ironhide grunted his agreement, reaching down and gently getting Miles out of Orion's grasp. Only for the sparkling to start crying loudly again. Ironhide's servo froze in midair, holding Miles up by his shirt and letting the teen dangle there. He had barely started to move his hand back down when Miles glared at him.

"Don't you _dare_ give me back to him or I will be having a talk to Sarah about what actually happened to her garden."

* * *

><p>"I'm not surprised that you two snuck out, though I am surprised Epps isn't with you." Ratchet said softly, though just a few seconds earlier he had screamed at a wide eyed Sam.<p>

Sam shrugged, "Guess Epps is gettin' older." He eyed Ratchet wearily as the doc-bot turned and started getting together Orion's energon, mumbling something about it having to be a bit different so it would be easier on his systems, though if they had nothing else he could take adult energon, apparently thinking Sam cared or wanted to know. "So, doc, what's our prognosis?"

"Severe energy depletion, normally caused by starvation and working your body past the point it can normally handle with little sleep. You and Miles slept a long time, so we had to give you nutrients and water through other means, but you two are back in working form. Epps and Will came off pretty good, both sleeping just a little long than normal, though they do seem to still be tiring out a bit quicker than they usually would. You and Miles might do the same." Ratchet explained.

"The Allspark energy is gone, I take it?" Sam asked, getting comfortable in Bumblebee's hand. His tone was just slightly hopeful.

"No," Ratchet sighed. "You guys have all leveled out and appear to be even with each other."

"Oh." Sam sounded disappointed. He was happy they had saved Orion, sure, but what would this mean for them? Would it end up doing anything to them?

Bumblebee held his charge close, "None of it seems to be having an effect on any of you. You will be alright, Sam."

Sam looked up at the familiar faceplates of his Guardian. It wasn't much to be reassured by, but there wasn't much to go off of to do said reassuring. He put on a smile, at least the 'bot was trying. "Yeah."

It was relatively silent after that, Ratchet and Bumblebee occasionally talking in Cybertronian. Sam didn't even attempt to listen this time, just sat back and watched Ratchet work. Just as Ratchet finished both he and Bumblebee received a comm link from the frequency that everyone could access, even the humans. Sam found out in the form of his phone going off with a text message.

_Come to the control room. You'll want to see this._

Sam figured it was from Blaster, the mech rarely left his station there. Said he'd do his job and Red Alert's, whoever Red Alert was. He looked up at Bee expectantly, and the scout nodded, the two turning to look at Ratchet. The med-bot vented heavily, grumbling something under his breath, but nodded as well. So the three set off for the control room, meeting Optimus on the way there.

When they got there Blaster just gestured them over, and typed away quickly, pulling up a certain camera feed on one of the bigger screens so they could all see it. It was to Orion's room, and everyone froze in slight shock at what they saw.

"Blast, could you turn up the volume?" Sam asked, body trembling as he tried not to laugh. Blaster did so. "Oh Primus, they are! They're _caramelldansen!_" He burst out into laughter, having to lean against Bumblebee to stay upright.

It was true. Ironhide and Barricade were doing the closest version to the dance that a being made of metal could, though the look on their faces at the moment would be enough to make even the Hatchet back down. Miles was down with Orion, helping the sparkling do his own version as he wiggled on his aft and shook around, only being able to be labeled as cute as a button. He had a blissful look on his faceplates, and Miles looked entirely too happy and pleased with himself, though after awhile it become obvious he was purposefully not looking at Ironhide and Barricade.

"Orion was crying and Miles suggested one of them play some music. Somehow they got on to that song and Miles started to do the dance, Orion seeming beyond pleased with it, and well... let's just say Miles is apparently extremely convincing, and both Ironhide and Barricade are absolute suckers when it comes to making a sparkling happy." Blaster said by way of explanation.

Ratchet snorted, obviously amused. "Of course it was Miles." Both Bumblebee and Optimus were currently laughing, even as Bee helped his charge remain upright.

"Sam, I believe I might want to exchange you for Miles." Bumblebee joked. "Doubt our lil' 'con will be a problem after this, and Prowl won't be hard to fight off."

Optimus laughed, "Sorry, Bumblebee. Prime comes first."

"Oh slag no, I get same species rights! He's all mine, mechs." Sam grinned.

* * *

><p>Somewhere along the path back to Orion's room, Prowl had joined up with them. As they reached the door the Caramelldansen music could be heard drifting out, as well as Miles singing along to it. Pretty badly, but four out of the five weren't going to complain because they knew what he had managed. Poor Prowl was, once again, out of the loop.<p>

So when he strode towards the door and opened it without making a sound, he was named Prowl for a reaon, no one bothered to think anything until they watched as he froze. He was apparently unnoticed because the sound of music continued. Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Sam, who was in Bumblebee's hand, peered around Prowl.

Miles was now sitting on the floor, slightly behind Orion as he helped the sparkling remain sitting upright even as he wiggled and jerked around. He was singing loudly, obviously not caring about how he sounded, with a huge shit eating grin on his face. Ironhide and Barricade were still doing the dance, but if it was possible their faces looked even more murderous. Orion obviously didn't care about the look on their face's, though, as he squeeked and warbled in his own sparkling speek happily, doorwings occasionally fluttering with excitement.

And then Prowl hit the floor, his glitch having acted up at the site of Ironhide and Barricade doing such a thing. The music abruptly stopped as both adult Cybertronians looked at their unexpected visitors with completely blank faceplants. Orion looked shocked, and about ready to burst into his wailing again.

"Do not worry, I have told Blaster to only send the copies to the Autobot half of NEST. Very few organics will get this." Optimus said, battle mask down to hide the smirk on his features.

Miles looked down right horrified, and slowly looked up at Barricade and Ironhide just as Orion started to wail. "Five second head start?" The teen squeaked.

Ironhide activated his cannon, growling. "No." The teen quickly scrambled up and started to run around the large room as Ironhide actually chased after him.

Ratchet was trying to bring Prowl back, Optimus was attempting to calm the irate Weapons Specialist down, Sam was laughing his ass off, Bumblebee was standing and trying not to do the same, Ironhide was still chasing Miles, and Barricade was watching with a pleased look when they all froze and looked down at Orion. The sparkling was giggling and laughing happily, clapping his little servos together as he watched the chase between Organic and Cybertronian.

"Oh, look. He seems to like this activity even better than the last one." Ironhide smirked, a wicked gleam in his optics. Miles looked at Orion with a betrayed expression, before running for the door. Ironhide followed.

Barricade took the sparkling energon from Ratchet and picked Orion up, beginning to feed him. He stalked out of the room to follow the two, looking entirely too pleased over the situation.

"Miles is so getting slagged one of these days." Sam said, everyone nodding in agreement. The teen grinned. "But hey, Prowl's technically out of the race for guardianship, and I doubt Barricade wants him at all. Leaves just you and Bee to duke it out, big guy."

Bumblebee grinned, "I think I'll step aside. Wouldn't want to make the leader of the Autobots look like a fool when _I_ won."

Everyone laughed, Optimus patting the young scout on the back. Then they left the room, returning to the control room to watch the chase through the cameras.


	27. You: Suitable distraction

**AN: I swear I just get some random idea and find a way to make it work with this story. This idea should last at least TWO chapters. Maybe :D Btw, CLIFFHANGER MWAHAHA**

**REVIEWS: **Thanks to _TransformerJunkie, Autobot Firekat, Noella50881,_ and _Fk306 animelover_ for the good reviews!

_Snow Kyubbi:_ I see it as him tiring out quickly and Orion getting fussy because the dancing stopped, so then one of the two mechs start to use a holoform to do it, but Miles scolds them saying that will just make Orion think that only organics could do it, and so they both do it in bipedal form so neither has to be embarrassed alone. (last part: hahaha so far anything actually dealing with couples I have in seperate pieces, and those are just oneshots. Nothing M-rated though)

**BTW if some of you don't know, I started the Prequel to this, called Getting used to Earth. First chapter is Ironhide and the Lennoxes. (focuses on the time period before Miles find's Barricade)**

**Chapter 27  
><em>You: Suitable Distraction.<em>**

* * *

><p>"Just what is this, giving thanks?" Blaster inquired as the table hushed so he could do so.<p>

The table was large so it could sit the organic half, and then the Cybertronian's bipedal forms on the other side. Optimus Prime sat at the head of the table, and at the other head of the table was Orion. The sparkling had a highchair that exactly matched Annabelle's, though his was fairly bigger. Bumblebee sat across from Sam, Barricade across from Miles, Sunstreaker across from Fig, Skids across from Mikaela, Prowl across from Maggie, Blaster across from Bob, Ironhide across from Will, Ratchet from Elizabeth, Wheeljack from Judy, Trailbreaker from Ron, Jazz from Epps, Sideswipe from Glen, and First Aid from Sarah. Inferno and Blurr were on duty and would be joining in later. This being dinobot sitting duty.

It was a bit of a surprise to everyone when Mikaela basically took on the Twins Minor, and even more of a surprise when they accepted it and seemed to bow to her, even just the tiniest bit. She saw them for what they were, a pair of fighters who had been made to leave the road from innocence quicker then they could stand, coupled with young age, and coped with acting like carefree, mischievous, and highly emotional sparklings. Judy, Sarah, and Elizabeth could usually make sure Skids and Mudflap behaved somewhat, too, using the whole parental guilt thing. After it was obvious that Mikaela was sticking on with the twins, or as she called it, adopting them, they quickly laid their claim on her as well. They could stand sharing her with each other, mainly because she wouldn't stand a fight, but they would get protective or jealous of another bot. Ratchet had absolutely no problems with this, and neither did Prowl.

Bob laughed, "It's Thanksgiving, Blast. A day for giving thanks, basically."

"We could give you this big long hoo-hah speech about how the Pilgrims came over to colonize in America, made friends with the natives, and blah, blah, all around a big whoop-de-doo, right? Let's not. If you guys wanna know the how's just look it up on the internet." Epps grinned.

When Skids reached for his energon cube, there was a small smack as Judy smacked his hand. It would obviously not hurt him, but it would make him pause. "We say thanks before eating. Er.. Drinking, or whatever it is you wacky things do." Judy explained, smiling.

"How do we go about giving this thanks?" Optimus asked.

Will grinned, standing up. "Follow by example, hot shot. But I say Sam lead that example, he was in it head first even before I was, I believe." He laughed when Sam nearly froze, giving the older man a pathetic 'why me' look. "C'mon kid, up." He prompted, leading Sam to do so. Sam cleared his throat, causing all eyes and optics to shoot to him. Well, those that hadn't already been on him.

"I, uh…" Sam started nervously, letting his eyes sweep across the table. Going over each of the Cybertronians, his eyes lingering on the ones he had the fondest memories with, before he stopped when he caught Miles giving him a thumbs up and mouthing 'imagine us in our undies, bro' to him. This rushed the mental image of Optimus in underwear into his head, still in bipedal form, followed by most of the other 'bots, and he tried to swallow the sudden laugh that wanted to free itself. He grinned, "I'm thankful for everything that's happened since I met Bee. Well, actually, I'll rephrase that just a bit. Since I actually realized what Bee was. I think Miles still has that phone call from me yelling about having Satan's Camaro, and I know there used to be a video posted on facebook of me racing around town on my mom's bike from him."

Most eyes, and optics, shifted to Bumblebee for a moment, the young scout fake pouting at Sam.

Sam grinned, "I admit there has been a few… scary incidents brought on from being involved with all of you. Barricade, who I can now and will get back at eventually. Fragger stole Miles." A laugh from most of the beings at the table, Miles giving a: Bee stole you first! "Besides the point, and anyway, then there was Sector Seven. Not only was I certain I was somehow going to be arrested and locked away forever, but not even minutes after that I learned that you can get attached to someone, somebot, in a short amount of time. And don't even get me started on good ol' Megsy. Then there was the dinobots for a brief period, though most of the horror focused on Miles for that one." A smirk. "But the good memories you guys bring me make all of that stuff not matter, not like it's much to make a difference anyway. And, okay, there's some decidedly freaky slag going down with the Allspark energy or whatever, but I'm not dead yet, nor dying, so that's all cool. It even got us Orion! You would not believe how thankful I am to have helped save him, the first Cybertronian who will hopefully be raised with a human family mixed in. Even more so that I could be apart of that family. I guess it is a bit true that our fate's have been intertwined since crazy Archi found ol' Megs buried in the snow, but I'm happy that all of this has happened. I've gained a new family." And Sam went to sit back down, the humans starting to clap and the Cybertronians taking their lead, before Sam shot back up. "Oh, and I'm thankful for Wheeljack giving us a cat Miles."

Miles groaned while the other laughed, giving his friend a grin. They went around the table on the human's side, each human saying something they were thankful for. Epps's list was even longer than Sam's, including watching Prowl glitch, Mason peeing in Barricade, Jazz being brought back, and several other things.

* * *

><p>Thanksgiving brought a lot of shared feelings out into the open, some more open then others, but that was only to be expected. Everyone was surprised when not long after the regular inhabitants of NEST returned that Galloway, the official autobot liaison, waltzed in and squared off with Lennox. The Captain won, hands down, embarrassing Galloway in front of everyone easily.<p>

Will quickly found out he embarrassed the wrong person a few days after that, his stomach having taken up permanent residence down somewhere near his feet. He shared the news with Epps, and the Sergeant was quick to share his superior's feelings. The two of them went and cornered Sam and Miles, shooing Bumblebee and Barricade away as Optimus called everyone else into a mandatory meeting, minus the two teens and two officers, so that he could give them the news as well.

The two teens could tell instantly something was up, shooting nervous glances to each other as Will and Epps paced across the length of their barracks room in unison. Finally, Epps stopped. It was still early in the morning.

"Sam, Bee can't stay in Tranquility with you anymore." Epps said softly, not even looking up at the teen.

Sam sighed, feeling relieved. "Oh, is that all? You two were making a big deal out of that? That's fine! I can just bug a ride of Miles. I'll be spending a bit less time with Bee, but whatever. I can still come to base and see him."

"Uh, no... I..." Epps seemed to shrink where he was standing, Will sending a glare at his best friend. "Sam, Miles, both of you are being kicked out. Mikaela, Trent, and your families too. No Cybertronians will be permitted to see you, or contact you in anyway, and likewise you will no longer be permitted on the NEST website to chat or any such thing. All contacts that you have with the 'bots will be deleted, and any items from them will be confiscated. Effective tonight after we drive you home in a non-sentient car."

The two looked shocked, staring at Will and Epps wordlessly, almost as if they had caught Prowl's glitch and froze up.

"I'm so sorry, it's all my fault. Galloway's doing this to get back at me. At all of us." Will practically whispered, Miles eyes floating up to stare at his face, while Sam remained as he was. "We're trying to get this fixed as soon as possible, I swear. But as it is now the only way any of this will change is if you two work your way here through the government, join the military, something like that. There are no civilians allowed on base. Even Optimus is trying to make it so he could claim you as wards of Cybertron, through the Guardianship of Prowl and Bee, and that you're seen as warriors in there eyes, but even he's meeting a fuss. And I'm sorry we can't give you both more time to say goodbye, I really am, but Galloway has us by the balls here and there's _nothing_ we can do."

Will and Epps waited for a moment to see if anything would be said by either of them. "Everyone else is being filled in about this by Prime. Once the meeting lets out you can say your goodbyes."

* * *

><p>"Grimlock no want you leave!" Grimlock cried, doing his best to pick Miles up even with his short arms, and wrap the teen in a near bone crushing hug. The dinobots were the first they were saying goodbye to, and Sam was with Swoop and Snarl, already crying.<p>

Miles felt his own eyes tear up, "Grimmy, I love you. Be a good 'bot, okay? L-listen to Wheeljack and Ratchet. Actually, just listen to Ratchet, okay? Jack could blow you up..."

"Grimlock love Miles." Grimlock, sounding as sad as a kicked puppy, finally bringing a soft choking sound followed by the flood gates opening from the young teen.

* * *

><p>"If you cry I'm shooting you." Ironhide, glaring down at a puffy eyed and sniffling Sam. "I'll just rely on my own hands to mess with William."<p>

Sam grinned just a little, knowing instantly what the Weapons Speciliast was referring to. Switching his coffee types, getting him addicted to it in the first place, gluing him to his seat, gluing his stuff down, changing the shampoo to hair dye, and other such things. Most of them had been Sam's ideas, Ironhide merely helping him to execute them. And Will generally blamed it on Epps.

"No you won't." He replied softly.

* * *

><p>"I wish I could make you glitch one last time, but I can't think of anything stupid enough to do that." Miles lingered in Prowl's doorway, having already said his goodbyes, but not wanting to believe it just yet.<p>

Prowl vented softly, "Go, Miles. I hear Barricade and Bumblebee are giving Ratchet a huge fuss."

A small mischievious glint appeared in the young teen's eye, making Prowl feel a bit relieved. He had never seen Miles or Sam look so sad.

"Y'know, you guys could spin off that me and Sam are sex sockets and you need to have sex with us to get energy. And you all do it in one big Cybertronian orgy, Optimus naturally getting whoever he wants and..." The teen continued on until Prowl crashed. He grinned, "One for the road, old friend."

* * *

><p>Sam sniffled, "I'm actually going to miss you saying: Autobots, roll out! I wish we hadn't gotten you to stop. I'll miss you, big guy. Sorry I can't be your eyes and ears with the Twins Major in the pranking meetings anymore."<p>

Contrary to popular belief Optimus did realize that Sideswipe and Jazz had made an official club, and he had gotten Sam to inform him of what would happen. Though he ended up mysteriously just ignoring the information. A Prime just liked to know where to be for a good laugh.

"I will miss you, Samual." He rubbed the teens back in a soothing manner."

"And I you, big guy."

* * *

><p>The two teens had said their goodbyes to everyone but the one's they had the closest attachment to. Sam stood in front of Barricade, and Miles in front of Bumblebee, the two barely getting a goodbye out to the mechs before they were snatched up and made away with. No one bothered to disturb them, just letting them stay out there for hours.<p>

* * *

><p>"I could kidnap you. My current statis is Decepticon Neutral. Still 'con in there." Barricade said softly, laying on his back in the sand a couple miles from base, Miles currently resting right over his spark chamber as they both looked up at the stars. Several hours had already pasted, and neither of the two were planning to go back before they had to.<p>

"Barry, that'd never work out. You'd have to be with me constantly, and I'd like to live a few more years." A light teasing tone was used, though it was laced with sadness.

A soft snort, "You're right, I probably would end up killing you, you annoying glitch." The words meant to come out ruff, but they had come out softer then they intended.

* * *

><p>They continued to drive around in circles far from the base, Sam sitting in the driver's seat and stroking Bumblebee's wheel idly. The teen had been reduced to tears with the dinobots, Orion, and the mech he was currently inside of. Things had been great, but then everything had flipped upside down in an instant. It just wasn't fair.<p>

The radio was on, speaking Bee's feelings. Sam sang along with the song, returning those feelings.

"_You'll be in my heart, no matter what they say. You'll be here in my heart, always._"

* * *

><p>"We'll make it back whether you guys can get us here as Civilians, or if we have to claw our way through the ranks. Promise." Sam said softly, Miles nodding beside him as the two stood facing their Cybertronian comrades. Will gave them the sign and they scrambled into Miles' non-sentient car, dubbed Sasha. Bob and Elizabeth were already inside, starting the car and telling the two to buckle up before starting to drive away. Both boys set their resolve, not looking back. Neither wanted to cry again.<p>

The Cybertronians stood there watching the tail lights of the car as it drove away, those not as close to the two boys going inside before it was gone. Bumblebee and Barricade stood side by side, watching in that direction long after the car was out of even a Cybertronian's range of eye sight, silently offering comfort to each other though nothing was said. They were both young by Cybertronian standards, the Autobot still a teen, and the Decepticon Neutral in the early 20's. Both had seen and lost more than they should have, and neither expected to lose the form of their two closest human friends in one blow, outside of death.

"_When one door closes, another opens._" Bumblebee quoted, neither bothering to check what exactly he did so from.

Barricade snorted softly, "You need to realize those are two completely seperate doors, with seperate things behind them, insect."

Bumblebee clicked sadly in Cybertronian, watching as Barricade turned around and walked back into the base. The Autobot scout spent the rest of the night outside.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Somewhere between the end of November, and the beginning of December<strong>_  
><em><strong>Location: Tranquility<strong>_

Days flew by as the 'Civilians' tried to get used to being normal again. Out of all of them, the four teens were taking it the hardest. And out of that group two of them were taking it harder than the others.

One positive outcome is that Trent wasn't bullying Sam and Miles any more, even occasionally inviting the two over or hanging with them in the arcade, movies, or another hot spot. Mikaela was spending more time with them, too. She had been in longer than Trent, but wasn't taking it nearly as bad as Sam and Miles. She had been kept grounded in the 'civilian world' due to her father, her friends, and her own strong will. She didn't spend nearly as much time with the Cybertronians as Sam and Miles did.

Sam and Miles spent a lot of their time together, locked up in either Sam's house, or Miles'. The two delved into their studies, determined to get back to their friends as fast as possible. The Witwicky's and Lancaster's would have been delighted by the sky rocketing grades if they didn't know why it was happening.

* * *

><p><strong><em>December 18th, 2007<br>Location: NEST base  
>Time: 0200 hours<em>**

Almost everyone was asleep. Everything had been calm, and there had been a few blips of occasional Decepticon activity, but this seemed more than usual, and only helped to lure everyone on base into a sense of security.

Bumblebee and Ironhide had gone with Will to the Lennox farm for Christmas, both the Captain and the Weapons Speciliast feeling that the young Autobot needed to be around some humans to help with the funk he had gotten in once Sam had been taken away. Since they had met they had almost always been at least in the same vicinity, and that had suddenly been taken away from the Scout. He had grown used to it easily, and was finding it hard to not wake up from recharge and set his sensors on Sam in the same second.

Barricade, on the other hand, had just seemed to withdraw from everyone, occasionally on speaking to Bumblebee, or Optimus. Otherwise he kept to himself, or was even more unbearable than usual. He had taken into hacking the police base in Tranquility, and then using it to access the highschool and find out about Miles and Sam through that, sharing information with Bumblebee.

He had been unable to sleep, and was pacing down the corridor, when he heard a startled yell coming from the control room, and then a thump. He growled to himself, knowing that Skids and Mudflap had been put on duty that night, and he could just imagine the two getting into a fight and breaking everything in that room. So he stormed in, getting ready to yell, but stopped cold when he saw a figure holding a struggling Mudflap.

"Motormaster!" Barricade stared, almost frozen as he ran through his options. He had no weapons, and he knew that if Motormaster was here that meant that Dead End, Breakdown, Drag Strip, and Wildrider would be most likely as well, to form Menasor.

"Traitor." Cold, calculative optics turned to glare at him. Motormaster dropped Mudflap on the ground, much more concerned with the Cybertronian he now saw as a new enemy, one who had betrayed him, and every other Decepticon.

Mudflap looked between the two, then at his twin sprawled on the ground. Steeling himself, having the strongest urge to just go to Skids and stay beside him, the Autobot stood and hit the alarm, causing them to wail throughout the entire base. He activated the comm that everyone could hear, even the organics.

"**'IS AIN'T NO DRILL! WE UNDAH ATTACK! DECEPTICON ATTACK!**"

* * *

><p><strong><em>December 19th, 2007<em>**  
><strong><em>Location: Tranquility, Witwicky household<em>**  
><strong><em>Time: 1100 hours<em>**

Judy was making a fresh batch of coffee for herself and Elizabeth, Miles' mother sitting at the kitchen table and chatting away at her. Both of their children were in school by this point, and the day was turning out to be a good one.

Then the telephone rang, and Judy propped it between her shoulder and ear. "Hello?"

"Judy? This is Will. Will Lennox." Will spoke from the other end, though his voice sounded scratchier than usual, and in the background there was a thump and then a groan of pain.

"What's wrong?" She instantly knew something had to be for Will to be breaking the new set of rules Galloway had imposed.

A long silence as Will held the phone away, talking to someone near him. He returned, "We were attacked yesterday. Orion... he was kidnapped. We just thought the-you should know. I have to go, bye." And he hung up.

Elizabeth frowned as she watched Judy, questioning what the phone call had been about. When she was done she looked sad, but firm. "Don't tell our boys. They don't need to know."

Judy only nodded.

* * *

><p><strong><em>December 20th, 2007<em>**  
><strong><em>Location: Tranquility, Lancaster household<em>**  
><strong><em>Time: 1700 hours<em>**

Miles was home alone for once, his parents and Sam's going out on a double date for the night. The teen had decided while he loved his friend, he was due some alone time, and Sam had readily agreed, so the two had gone their seperate ways.

He was outside in his yard with Mason the Mastiff, waiting for the pizza to arrive. While waiting he watched a beat up and old looking vehicle sputter to a stop just short of his driveway, and a driver step out, checking under the hood for a moment and trying the car only to get nothing. The man turned towards Miles.

"Query: Would you lend a hand?" The man asked, and Miles blinked. It was one of the odder ways he had heard someone speak. Miles nodded, making his way over. "Suggestion: Try turning on after I give signal." Miles simply nodded again, spending more time trying to figure out what could cause someone to speak in such an odd way, and absentmindedly took the keys from the man, going and slipping into the driver's side, and putting the key into the ignition without turning it.

"Hi I'm Miles." Miles said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. "It's nice to me-" He cut himself off as he examined the car, his eyes falling on the Decepticon symbol in the middle of the steering wheel just as the driver's side door slammed shut and the seat belt wrapped tight around him. The hood slammed shut, and the man who had been standing there just seemed to disappear.

"Designation: Soundwave. You: Suitable distraction."


	28. Hook? Like from Peter Pan?

**AN: Wahaha. Yeah, hi. :D **

**Reviews: **_actual member, anonymous reviewer  
>Starfire201: <em>I'm glad you like it so far! And of course Galloway wouldn't think of the Decepticons, he's Galloway!  
><em><span>Holen-Snape:<span>_ Read, and most will be revealed!  
><em><span>Bookworm Gal:<span>_ Gotta add some seriousness in to my usual stupid stuff occasionally! It advances the plooot.  
><em><span>shadow-dog18:<span>_ Yes, cliffhangers are used to leave people wanting more. I think it works wonderfully! And aw, it's good/bad you cried? I'm not sure, haha. Makes me happy as an fanfiction writer, but then again... haha!  
><span>writergurl616:<span> Everyone has to hate Galloway now. Just has to!  
><strong>ALSO THANKS TO: <strong>_Noella50881,_ and _Fk306 animelover_** for reviewing!**

_**Chapter 28  
>Hook? Like from Peter Pan?<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong><em>December 20th, 2007<em>**  
><strong><em>Location: Tranquility, Witwicky household<em>**  
><strong><em>Time: 1730 hours<em>**

Miles climbed out of Soundwave, walked up to the front door, and knocked. He hummed quietly as he waited, occasionally glancing over at the Decepticon while listening to the noises coming from inside. He snickered when there was a loud yelp, followed by a '_Dammit Mojo!_', and a thump as Sam fell over. A few seconds later the door swung open, revealing a disheveled looking Sam.

"What's up? I was taking a nap." Sam grumbled, glaring half heartedly at his friend.

"Give me your phone." Miles demanded, ignoring the question. Sam frowned, but listened. Miles took the phone, and stepped a few feet away, before tossing it to the ground and stomping on it until there was no phone left.

Sam gaped, "Dude, what the fuck?" He stepped out of the house, noticing the beat up looking vehicle that was definitely not Miles' car.

"Designation: Soundwave." Miles gestured to the vehicle, grinning widely. "And he really speaks like that. Freakin' geek. Don't call him tentacle porn, though. He hates that." And Sam could hear the engine rev angrily. "The Decepticons attacked base and got Orion. And guess what? My mom and your mom knew yesterday and never told us." At that Sam felt more than a little angry, and could tell that Miles did too.

"Soundwave's a Decepticon though, isn't he?" Sam asked, trying to ignore the sudden and surprising feelings he had toward his mom. They would definitely be having a talk later.

"He is. The one that can read minds and has those mini things." Miles wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulder, starting to pull the teen towards the Decepticon. "We are being kidnapped to be used as suitable distractions while Soundwave finds a way to get his mini things and Orion, then us, and then get the fuck outta dodge."

Sam followed his friend, slipping into the passenger's seat when the door opened for him. He didn't even need to think about it, if Miles was already in it, and it meant that Orion could be saved. The seatbelt slid around him, and Soundwave closed the door. He looked at his best friend who now sat in the driver's seat, grinning. "We're insane, aren't we? Being willingly kidnapped by a Decepticon."

"Wavey ain't that bad. One of the best as far as I'm concerned if he wants to get Orion outta there." Miles said, pretending to drive as Soundwave pulled out.

"Designation: Soundwave." Soundwave's voice came from the radio, sounding monotone, though Sam thought he could hear a hint of irratation.

Sam laughed, "Better get used to it, Soundwave. He calles Barricade Barry. Be happy with Wavey."

* * *

><p><strong><em>December 21st, 2007<em>**  
><strong><em>Location: Unknown<em>**  
><strong><em>Time: Unknown<em>**

Miles sat shivering, holding Orion close as the infant slept in a disturbed recharge. The cell they were in was pitch black, even to Miles' slightly enhanced vision. He had no idea where they were, or what time it was, though he knew it had to be late at night. Or early morning, depending on how you looked at it.

Soundwave had brought them in, ruffing them up a little beforehand, and offering them to Shockwave as captives, pointing out that they had Allspark energy and that they admitted to being two of the four who helped save Orion.

Starscream had gone to space to get reinforcements, and in the meantime Shockwave had taken over the forces on Earth.

Shockwave was unnaturally ruthless. He only wanted Orion to see how the Sparkling could have possibly survived, and he didn't care if the sparkling offlined in that learning process. Early on he had found out that Soundwave was opposed to the idea of using a sparkling in such a way, and to make sure that his fellow Decepticon would listen he captured the cassetticons, and had someone guarding them at all times to be a threat. Getting the two humans was a treat beyond measure, giving him a better opportunity to figure everything out, and a chance to shut Orion up.

He had been crying almost non stop whenever he was awake, unused to all the new faces and people, as well as the things being done to him. The sparkling had almost instantly quieted down upon seeing the two teens, and had reached for them in a pitiful, begging manner.

All three of them had been placed in a room together, their shared cell, and the only offered light was the glow of Orion's optics when he was awake. The sparkling was terrified, and Sam and Miles did everything they could to soothe him, even a little bit.

But then Sam had been taken away, and Miles and Orion had been left on their own, the tiny sparkling practically attached to the teen looking for whatever comfort he could get. He had finally fallen into a fitful recharge, while Miles stayed awake, half to keep guard, and half to think.

He knew that the drive had taken up what was left of the day, having asked Soundwave the time just before they were brought in, and finding that it was already the 21st. Besides that he only knew that it was shockingly cold to someone used to the dry air and heat of Nevada. For a brief period he had even seen a few snowflakes falling, though the normal joy he would have over that rare treat wasn't there as it would have been before due to the situation.

He listened to anything and everything he could hear, his mind supplying him with the worst as he thought of what could be happening to his best friend, the darkness supplying his mind with horrible things.

A scream cut through the silence, and at first Miles tried to convince himself it wasn't Sam. When a second and third rang out, leaving no mistake as to who the owner of the voice was, Miles wished he could just not think or hear anymore. And he held on to Orion that much tighter.

* * *

><p><strong><em>December 24th, 2007<em>**  
><strong><em>Location: NEST Base<em>**  
><strong><em>Time: 0845 hours<em>**

Will watched as the Cybertronians worked on rebuilding the parts of the base that had been destroyed in the battle that had happened only a few days prior. Humans scrambled underfoot as they helped, though Will himself was just sitting back sadly. By the time he, Bumblebee, and Ironhide had been alerted that anything was wrong it was already too late, and the Decepticons, a long with Orion, were gone. He listened as his Guardian barked orders, and helped to lift the heavier things.

"WILL! WILLLLL!" Epps yelled as he came wheeling up, still showing the after effects of the battle. He had a stitches above his right eyebrow, and one of his legs had been broken. Ratchet had placed him on crutches, a wheelchair, or a Cybertronian hand. "We finally got some food fucking news! Keller pulled some favors and Civilians are allowed back."

Will smiled briefly, "That's great. Just in time for Christmas Eve? That makes it fragging great. Maybe tomorrow we can still have the best fucking Christmas ever. Head to the med-bay, I'll get Blaster since our lines are under." Referring to the fact that NEST was still out of power and the lines were still down.

Epps did just that, getting Optimus' attention so the leader could help him easier. It was mainly to distract Optimus just a bit from the stress the leader had recently taken on, and the Autobot went with him, staying in the medbay to talk to Ratchet, Barricade, and Bumblebee.

Barricade had managed to put up as good as a fight he could considering he was weaponless. Everyone thought him lucky to come out living at all, though missing an arm and having several other bad wounds left the now fully Neutral, he refused to be a Decepticon Neutral anymore, in a bad mood. Bumblebee had managed to get his voice components destroyed again, and had to revert back to internal comms or music, but he stayed in the medbay with Barricade while Ratchet worked on his new parts.

The now four Cybertronians and one human waited for Will and Blaster, Will walking in with a grin. "You two lost puppies ready to hear your master's voice again?"

Barricade growled and glared, though Bumblebee just looked happy. Optimus chuckled, "Alright, Blaster, call one of their cellphones."

"...Miles is temporarily out of service." A pause. "Samual is temporarily out of service. Calling Lancaster household. ...No answer. Calling Witwicky household."

"H-hello?" Judy's shakey voice came on over the line, this being broadcasted out loud by Blaster so everyone can hear.

"Judy, it's Will again. Good news, finally, Sam and Miles can come back. I'm sure they must be driving you crazy. I can't even imagine how they feel after learning about Orion." Will grinned as he talked.

They were all surprised when they could hear Judy bursting into tears, and the phone being taken from her and passed between several people. Finally one seemed to find a moment to talk to them.

"Will, it's Bob. The boys... They're gone. Judy and Lizzie never told them about Orion, or us for that matter. They thought they'd be okay so they left them home alone and... We came back and Mason was outside, the pizza guy waiting. Miles had ordered Pizza and disappeared in that time frain. Then Sam, the door was left slightly open and the remains of his phone were out on the porch. They've been missing since the 20th." The older man's voice sounded sad, and tired.

They were stunned into silence. Why would the Decepticons go after only them? Barricade and Bumblebee looked shocked, though that was quickly morphing into anger.

"**WHAT?**"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Later that day<em>**

It was still early when Optimus got the video. He watched the first minute of it, before pausing it and calling a select few to the meeting room. Ratchet, Prowl, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Barricade, Will, Epps, Jazz, and Fig came in to the room. The Cybertronians took their seats at the table, and the humans sat on the table, facing the screen and Optimus. Wordlessly the Prime restarted the video.

"_Hello my dear, beloved Autobots. Is the Decepticon traitor in there with you?_" Shockwave appeared on screen, sneering. The room he was in was small, and they could see Soundwave off to the side, and Miles and Sam standing behind Shockwave. The two teens were standing in front of Orion, ready to protect him. "_I sincerely hope so. I've heard he's close to one of these little squishies._"

"_We prefer the term fleshlings, dumb aft._" Sam spoke up, surprising everyone. "He's gonna get himself killed!" Epps whispered.

Shockwave growled, "_I do not care what your pathetic minds prefer!_" He snatched Sam up, causing the teen to give an indignant squawk as he started to squirm in his grasp. "_I know for a fact that little yellow youngling has taken a liking to this one. And I heard that you see them as more than sockets? Actually worth becoming a Guardian towards? That's so laughable!_" They couldn't see him squeeze Sam harder than before, but they could hear the teen cry out in pain. Ratchet put a comforting hand on the Scout's shoulder in an attempt to keep him from jumping out of his seat. "_You Autobots just can't imagine how pleased I am that I not only have your Sparkling, but two of your little organic pets as well! I could be in a boat on the middle of the ocean for all you know._"

"_Oh my God, we are on a boat, aren't we?_" Miles asked from behind Shockwave, the Autobots recognizing that almost too familiar glint in his eyes that said he was up to something. "_I can feel us rocking back and forth... back and forth..._"

Sam looked like he was going a little green, "_Shit, Miles, shut up! Don't say that! We're on land, we're on land!_"

"_What are the both of you going on about?_" Shockwave snarled, shaking Sam a little.

"_Shock, Sammie here gets a bit seasick. You might want to put him down, Ratchet was pretty surprised that the acid in our stomachs was more effective at eating through Cybertronian armor then those worm thingies on that one planet. He said you were there, so you should know what I'm talking about, yeah? I'd hate for such a smart mech to get defeated by an organic substanence. Truly._" Miles explained, his tone sarcastic at the end. "_Remember Titanic Sam? What if we hit an iceberg? It is pretty cold and there has to be a lot of water around us... Could you imagine going down in this thing?_"

"_You will address me by my proper title!_" Shockwave demanded, shaking Sam at Miles. The next moment Sam was throwing up the contents of his stomach on to Shockwave's hand, arm, and chest when he brought him back in close enough. The next thing they heard was Shockwave screaming in terror, dropping Sam, and then fleeing the room and yelling for Hook. They all blinked in surprise.

"Primus, he sounds like a femme!" Barricade said, at the same moment as Miles started laughing and said: "_He sounds like a femme, oh Primus!_"

Ratchet shook his head, "I can't believe he thought of doing something like that. He listens way to intently when it could freak someone out." The entire group felt just a little lighter at seeing that part, it was a sure sign that the two teens and Orion were doing okay. There attention was drawn back to the screen when Sam groaned, and got stood up, leaning against the wall.

"_I hate you so much, Miles._" Sam groaned again, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

Miles laughed, "_Still got the video rolling, Wavey?_"

"_Designation: Soundwave. Affirmative._" The mech replied, and everyone at the table sat up slightly straighter. This was unexpected.

"_Great! So here's the short version: We were willingly kidnapped by Soundwave so we could come help save Orion from the evil clutches of the femme screamer._" A pause as Orion started to cry, so both Sam and Miles sat down on either side of the Sparkling, wrapping him up in a hug. Sam cooed at Orion while Miles resumed talking. "_Yes, we are stupid enough and crazy enough to be willingly kidnapped and put through unknown horrors to save Orion, but damn it, we saved him once, we're not gonna let him just die in the hands of evil now. Oh, and Bee, if anything happens to Sam, you can blame me. Wavey baby was content with just having one of us, and he knew I was outside waiting for pizza, the creeper, but I went and got Sam involved._"

At that they could see Sam glare at Miles. "_If you hadn't I would have kicked your ass when we all rescued you anyway._"

"_All talk and no action._" Miles huffed, before looking at the camera once more. "_Wavey hasn't said were we are just yet, probably because it's fucking freezing and we'd be screwed even if we had an idea as to where. Hopefully he'll be allowed to send this soon so you won't worry about us that much. I'm hoping I can work my charms on Shockwave and either drive him insane, or annoy him to death._"

"_With the way this is heading I think you'll annoy Soundwave to death first._" Sam muttered, just barely loud enough for them to hear.

"_Soundwave: Agrees with Samual._" Soundwave replied, and everyone at the table gaped. "Holy frag, that monotone slag heap can joke?" Barricade asked. "I never spent a lot of time with him because I thought he was just an emotionless bastard..." They watched as Miles pouted, and Sam laughed. Then the screen went black.

"So they're okay." Will said softly, sighing in a relieved manner. "Thank Primus."

That was when the next part of the video came up. The camera must have been shaking a bit, because it remained out of focus for awhile. "_Soundwave, are you rolling?_" Shockwave asked, opening the door to a room and letting light shine inside of it. "_Affirmative._" Soundwave responded, following Shockwave as he went in to the room. He placed the camera on a high enough vantage point that it could capture everything Shockwave wanted it to. They could see Miles, holding on to Orion protectively and glaring up at Shockwave with firm defiance, the infant recharging in his arms.

"_You heard those screams, didn't you, fleshling?_" Shockwave asked, tone as light as if he was conversing about the weather. He smirked when Miles flinched slightly. "_This is what happens when you think you can be smart. You're little friend got the brunt of it for now._" At this he opened his hand, dropping Sam on to the ground next to Miles. The teen was out of it, though even in his sleep he was holding his right arm close to his body and grimacing in pain. Miles gasped, trying to get to him, but Orion woke up and started to cry at the sight of Shockwave, clinging on to the teen even more and keeping him in his place.

"_What did you do to him? You bastard!_" Miles hissed, glaring at Shockwave.

"_I would not go insulting me, fleshling. I decided to show you some mercy, you should be grateful. You could be stupid enough to actually believe we're on a boat, and I could just see that stupid Autobot Medic lying to you._" Shockwave sneered. _"I just started the testing a little early. Had Hook break his arm in three places. The Allspark energy doesn't seem to stop us, or even do anything at all. We'll see how quickly the bones heal, and until then the both of you will be on a strictly energon diet. Hook was the one to find that out. I wonder if your little Autobot friends know?_"

Miles snorted, "_Of course they know, you stupid Cyclops. They're not stupid like you 'cons, they knew almost immediately what was going on with us._" The only thing to betray his fear was his eyes.

Shockwave slammed his hand down directly next to Miles, Orion starting to wail, though to his credit Miles barely flinched, the defiant look plastered on his face once more as he hid his fear. "_Oh, my dear little fleshling, I am going to enjoy **breaking** you. Once I do I think you'll make a fine little socket for me to keep._" He practically purred as he said this.

"_Just try it, I heard failure's always a nice thing to learn from. Is that what got you this far? Learning from all your past mistakes? Or did good ol' Megsy just take pity on someone as pathetic as you?_" Miles growled out, effectively challenging the Decepticon.

After hearing that, Ratchet subspaced a wrench and tossed it at Barricade's helm, causing a nice little dent as he glared at the ex-con.

"What the frag was that for?" Barricade growled.

"Did you hear that? He's been hanging around you too much! He just challenged Shockwave, you little glitch!" Ratchet kept the glare until Optimus gave him a reprimanding look. That part of the video ended, only for another to take it's place.

Now it appeared that the camera was in the corner of the Decepticon med-bay, Miles strapped down to one of the berth's, looking even smaller than he really was on the large slab of metal. Hook and Shockwave were in the room with him, Soundwave, Sam, and Orion being no were in sight. They watched as Shockwave injected something in to Miles, the teen trying to squirm away, but being unable to.

"_Thanks to this little miracle, you'll be able to stay awake through the entire surgery while we examine your insides._"

_"Inside of me?"_ Miles squeaked, wide eyed as he looked up at Shockwave.

Shockwave laughed coldly, "_Why yes, my little pet to be. Both you and Samual can in take Energon, and if only provided with that, use it as a source of energy. The other human we tried that on died after only one and a half cubes of it, their innards being unable to take it. That means something is different with you, most likely due to the Allspark energy. Both you and Samual... However, I prefer you to be the one this is done to. See that mirror above you?_"

Miles gulped, seeming to look directly above him, before nodding slowly, not wanting to test how Shockwave would react if he just didn't respond.

"_You will be looking at the entire time we are inside of it. Have you ever seen your stomach?_" A pause as he watched Miles shake his head. "_No? What a shame. I'll have to let you have that experience. We'll make sure you have the best view possible. Maybe we'll even take somethings out? Who knows._" He trailed a claw lightly down Miles cheek as the teen seemed to freeze. "_Knowing that we hold your life in our very hands. Just one little move and we could kill you. Won't it be amazing?_" He looked like he was about to say more, but Hook started talking to him in Cybertronian. Miles seemed to tense up all the more at that. "_Ah, you're right. We can't have that. I'll be back soon, my little pet to be._" And then he left, leaving Hook and Miles alone together in the room.

Epps, Will, and Fig looked horrified, sitting on the table staring up at the screen. Barricade was snarling in his seat, and Prowl's doorings were in a sharp irritated V formation. Optimus brought his battle mask down to hide his own expression. Ironhide looked pissed, reaching out and pulling Will closer to him. Ratchet and Jazz had a mixture of emotions flying across their faceplates.

Hook seemed to examine Miles intently. "_Orion._"

Miles visibly relaxed just a bit, craning his neck to look at the Decepticon Medic. "_Soundwave._"

"_Affirmative. You can understand Cybertronian, can't you?_" Hook inquired, sounding curious.

"_Cat's out of the bag, huh?_" Miles laughed slightly. "_Yeah. I can. So can Sam, and two others who I won't name. Don't need that crazy bastard kidnapping two more of us._"

Hearing that, everyone turned to look at Will and Epps, Fig backing away from them slightly.

"Oh... uh... surprise?" Epps asked awkwardly. When the eyes remained on him and Will he pointed at the screen. "Pay attention!"

"_I know this won't bring you any comfort, but just so you know there is a camera recording. Shockwave plans to send this to the Autobots._" Hook said after a moment.

Miles jerked in his bonds, trying to find the camera's location, and giving up when he couldn't. "_SHIT! If you guys have my mom and dad in there, or even the Witwicky's, you better send them out! If you don't and I die, I will find out, and I will haunt all of your aft's forever! They don't need to see this. And uhm... If you come in here guns blazing, apparently spare Hook. He's on our side._"

"_Do not mistake me, organic._" Hook made a displeased sound. "_I do not happen to care if you or your friend happen to die. It is the Sparkling I am doing this for._"

"_My statement still stands._" Miles huffed. "_So, you enjoy Peter Pan a lot?_" Miles laughed when Hook just gave him a confused look. "_You're a doctor, what do you think my chances are?_"

"_Physically I will do my best to make sure there is no irreversible harm. Mentally I can not say, though Shockwave has used this form of mental torture before, and it can affect even the most brave of mechs._"

Silence as they watched Miles close his eyes for a few seconds, swallow, then open them again. "_Sounds like a vote of confidence to me._" They then watched as Miles slammed his head back against the berth, and start yelling his head off at Hook as if the Decepticon had done it. Hook looked startled, taking a surprised step back, but stopped when Shockwave came in to the room, seeming to suddenly understand why Miles had acted like that.

"_Excellent Hook, you've been getting my little pet to be ready. I commend you._" Shockwave said, sounding pleased as he lay a tray of instruments out. They looked like cleaning supplies, as well as a few medical tools to make it easier to operate on Miles.

Optimus paused it, looking at the humans standing on the table. "I suggest you all leave."

"No way, boss bot." Epps said softly. "We can at least watch it if Miles had to go through it."

Fig nodded, "If it does have a big effect on him then humans can help to, not just Ratchet or something."

Optimus vented softly, looking at the three determined humans, before nodding and resuming the video. They all watched, optics and eyes glued to the screen in horror as the torture began.

It wouldn't be long before Fig had to leave the room, muttering under his breath in Spanish. Next was Epps, barely managing to make it out the door before he was crying a bit. Will was the last, and he only stopped when he threw up in a trash can, Ironhide finally forcing him out of the room. And that was before the first hour had even gone by.

By the end of it nearly three hours had gone by, Shockwave taking his time to draw it out even after finding out what he wanted. Miles had screamed until his voice had gave out on him, and Hook was left to stitch him back up as Shockwave washed all the blood away. He had to use a hand to hold Miles down better, the teen was shaking so badly that it continued to make him mess up when ever he tried to work on him.

And the screen went black again, the Cybertronians sitting silently. No one said a thing, though most looked at either Prowl or Barricade. By that time the humans had been brought back in.

Finally Barricade spoke up, looking directly at Prowl. "If we get him back alive I would like you to retract your claim of Guardianship over him."

"But of course." Prowl replied, sounding slightly sad. The if lingered heavily in the air.

"Ah'm sure once 'e 'ears 'bout tha' he'll say it's the best Christmas present 'e's eve' gotten." Jazz said softly, ever the unnofficial moral officer among the Autobots, trying to bring them all the happy image of how excited Miles would be when he actually heard about that, and how he'd probably tease the ex-con relentlessly.

"If he hears about it." Both Barricade and Prowl said, the SIC sighing sadly, and the ex-con simply realizing that fate could be cruel.

Then the tape began on a new scene, starting with a loud banging sound. Then Shockwave came into focus, and Soundwave as he stuck the camera up somewhere high enough to capture the scene. Shockwave was ignoring him completely, however, optics focused on the ground where Sam and Miles stood. Sam had Orion in his arms, doing his best to hold the sparkling, while Miles had a weapon that looked like one of Ironhide's cannons, only slightly different so that the human could deal with it.

"Soundwave must have made that. He has to build some for his cassetticons often enough." Ratchet said, offering the explanation to any who wondered around the table.

Shockwave laughed as Miles pointed the charged up cannon at him. "_I don't know who gave you that weapon, but it won't be enough to let you escape. And here I thought you had been learning, my little pet. It seems I'll have to teach you another lesson._" And he took a threatening step closer, Miles powering down the cannon with his finger, and backing up against the wall, looking up at Shockwave with wide eyes. "_See, you are lea-_" And there was a blur as Shockwave was suddenly attacked by Soundwave, a small struggle for dominance, before Soundwave won, pinning Shockwave to the ground.

Miles smirked, powering the cannon back up, and stepping towards the downed Shockwave. He climbed up on to the mech's faceplates, Soundwave holding the head steady for him. "_See this, you aft._" He said just before he took aim and shot Shockwave's optic out, causing the mech to go blind and scream out in rage and pain.

That was when they could hear the alarm sound, and watched as Soundwave did something to Shockwave that caused the mech to go offline. He then grabbed the camera and everything went dark once more. Not even a second later the screen let up again.

This time they could tell the camera was outside, snow covering everything. Soundwave stood in front of the camera, and Miles, Sam, Orion, and Ravage were off to the side. Orion was playing in the snow contentedly, while the two teens were hugging themselves in an attempt to warm up. They were used to the dry and hot Nevada, and were no where close to being prepared for Winter weather. They both had shoes and shorts on, but Miles now appeared to be wearing the shirt that Sam used to be wearing, and Miles shirt had been used to help create the makeshift sling for Sam's arm.

"_Greetings: Autobots, Barricade, any organics. Designation: Soundwave._" Soundwave said in his monotone voice, pausing as Miles started to laugh. Both he and Sam looked at Miles, while Miles was looking at Ravage.

"_What? Rav is funny!_" Miles attempted to defend himself, and Sam gaped at him.

Soundwave looked briefly annoyed, before glaring down at his creation. "_How long have you been able to talk to Miles?_"

Ravage tilted his head towards Miles, and Miles answered for him so that Sam could hear too. "_You obviously remember how you sent Hook out of the room just after you got Ravage, and then you yourself went to get me something for any future pain I might have had? Well when Ravage went to free me I touched him and it just sort of... happened, I guess. The next thing I knew I could hear him in my head. He said it's something like an internal comm link, only a private one just between me and him. I can't get anyone else like I can him. He says it might be because the nanobots would recognize him a bit, and that the Allspark energy might have been looking for me to connect to someone to take a bit of energy off of, because he also said I did that._" A pause. "_Catobots? Really, Rav? ...Okay, I'll see if Wheeljack will start calling them that._"

"_So what did he say to make you laugh?_" Sam asked.

"_Designation: Stick-up-Aft, more like it._" Miles grinned, and Ravage looked entirely too pleased with himself as Soundwave glared at his creation.

Soundwave picked Miles and Sam up, then shoved the two inside his chest compartment that was usually used by the Cassetticons. "_Explanation: So you can warm up a bit. And so Miles won't continue to be a bad influence on Ravage._" He ignored Miles when the teen protested. He turned back to the camera, looking annoyed by now, and told them where they would be staying.

"Look at that! We're going to Canada!" Epps exclaimed, perking up and sounding excited. "Road trip for Christmas, hell yeah!"

Will smacked him lightly over the head, "They're going to Canada, not us."

Barricade and Bumblebee were already out the door.


	29. Tickle me Barricade

**AN: So a fun little chapter! Yay!**

**Reviews: I really don't feel up to answering them all -_-'. I'll be honest, I'm being lazy, but most of them are the 'great chapter, great story, I loved this, blah blah blah' generic stuff, so not much to say but THANKS! xD (thanks to: **_writergurl616, LionLover190, Rockubyebaby, Ryen Selenity Caliburn, Autobot Firekat, SkyHighFan, Fk306 animelover, shadowdog18_**)**

**Sidenote: **_shadowdog18_ mentioned Soundwave's voice in TF:RotF movie. I can't remember where, but I saw something funny because of how they did Soundwave in the movie so...  
><strong><br>**_Soundwave:_ He's floatin' in ur orbit, rapin' ur satellites!

**Chapter 29  
>Tickle me Barricade<strong>

* * *

><p>"<em>So we can all just talk and hear each other?" <em>Epps voice came through to Soundwave, Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Barricade, Bumblebee, and Jazz.

"_Affirmative. Comm link: Can connect even with me in Canada, several in NEST base in Nevada, and some on way to Canada._" Soundwave replied.

Jazz snorted, playfully tailgating Bumblebee. "So, Soundwave, where are Sam and Miles? Ah ain't heard them ye'."

Though Barricade and Bumblebee had tried to leave right away Ratchet had made them wait long enough to make sure that Barricade's reattached arm would work fine enough for the trip, and that he could temporarily fix Bumblebee's vocals. He had threatened the Scout in to silence for the first few hours, so all Bumblebee could do in retaliation to Jazz's tailgating was play an angry song.

They had currently been driving since late December 24th, and now it was early December 25th. Ratchet made good use of his sirens, though there were few out on this day anyway

"_Out shopping for warmer clothes. And something to do with 'Holiday Spirit'. Query: What is Holiday Spirit?_"

"That," Barricade drawled, "Means you are going to be doomed very soon. I would suggest holing up somewhere and hiding."

"_Soundwave: Not convinced._" Soundwave replied, his disbelief drifting through to everyone else.

"_You should be, Soundwave._" Epps laughed, before groaning. "_Damn it, Prowl! You sunk my battle ship!_" They could hear Prowl give a little chuckle, and if Ratchet had optics in his alt mode he would of rolled them.

"Will's facing down the femme's, and you two are playing battle ship?" Ratchet asked, incredulous. Sure, this could be expected from Epps. But Prowl, too? "Shouldn't you be helping?"

"_You yourself left just to avoid being the one to tell them that we're going to get their offspring without getting them first._" Prowl responded, not guilty in the least.

"_Femme's?_" Soundwave asked before Ratchet could manage an angry retort.

Optimus drove closer to Ratchet for a moment, softly scraping his side with a rear view mirror. This took quite a bit of good manuevering on his part, his alt form was rather large, and he didn't want to run anyone off the road in the process. He got an indignant flash of the lights in return, and internally grinned. "Samual and Miles' mother's. Elizabeth Lancaster, Miles', and Judy Witwicky, Sam's. They are both formidable in their own right. As scary as any creator with a sparkling endangered."

"_Ackno-_" A pause as a new sound entered the room with Soundwave, and Orion could be heard tweeting happily. "_Greetings Miles. Where are the others?_"

"_Hey Wavey, tree or Santa?_"

"_Designation: So-Oh, forget it. Query: Explain question further before decision is to be made._"

There was a sudden silence among the travelling group of Cybertronians as they started to listen in more intently. They couldn't hear anything from Epps or Prowl either, and Optimus imagined they were listening in just as intently. Or Epps was, anyway.

"_Just answer the question. It's either one or the other. Tree or Santa?_"

A pause, and they could just tell Soundwave was deciding whether to answer or not.

Finally, "_Tree_." was heard, though it was said with extreme wariness.

"_Alright._" Shuffling noises. "_GUYS HE WANTS TREE. MOBILIZE._"

Then came the sound of running feet and peds, as well as the beat of wings. Then Sam's voice, "_Ratbat, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, go!_"

The sounds of flying, struggling, metal scraping concrete, metal scraping metal, and Orion laughing madly. The sparkling was obviously enjoying the show, and the four Autobots and one Neutral wished they were there already to see it as well.

"_Cassetticons: Explain!_" Soundwave could be heard, voice long gone from the normal monotone to confused and wary.

"_We're just getting you into the season, Wavey!_" Sam laughed. "_That's it, back him in the corner! He won't fight if it might squish any of us._"

And for five minutes they listened to the sounds of the one sided battle before Soundwave apparently gave in, resigning himself to his fate. There was triumphant cheering, and even more sounds, before it all became quiet. Then there was laughter.

"Told you." Barricade said, his smirk evident in his voice.

"_Barry?_" Miles asked, at the same time Sam went, "_Cade?_"

"You never told them that we were doing this?" Optimus laughed. "We're on an open comm link, Samual, Miles. Between myself, Ratchet, Barricade, Jazz, and Bumblebee, who are currently driving to your position, and the control room back on base. Currently only Prowl and Epps are in the control room."

"_Well then... You heard Soundwave's spectacular defeat._" Sam snickered.

"_Soundwave: Betrayed by creations. Fight: Unfair._" It almost sounded like he was pouting.

Barricade growled a bit, "Honestly, where were you all those years I was with the 'cons? You go from stick in aft to this?"

"_Ravage says he likes non-stick up aft Wavey, Barry._" Miles replied, and they could hear him moving around.

"As do we all." Optimus chuckled. "It is good that he feel relaxed enough to show more of his... inward personality. As Barricade has begun to do."

* * *

><p>Miles smirked up at Soundwave, taking in the 'cons new look. He had plastic ornaments, popcorn strings, mistletoe on his forehead, christmas lights, and silver and gold garlands covering his arms, legs, and torso. There was a few lengths of garland wrapped around his neck, too.<p>

"Query: Statis upon entering Autobot NEST base?" Soundwave asked, not even looking down at Miles, Sam, Orion, or his cassetticons anymore.

"_I labeled myself as a Decepticon Neutral for the duration of my stay there. Still technically Decepticon, but not a threat to the Autobots._" Barricade replied, and then paused. "_Though I'm fully Neutral now._"

"Woah, what?" Sam asked, confused. "What happened?" He knew Orion had been kidnapped, but was unsure of everything else.

"_After you get your arm ripped off by a former comrade it just isn't the same._" Barricade said dryly.

Ratchet could be heard snorting, "_And then you proceeded to use your own fragging arm to beat the mech and use as a shield. I swear to Primus Prime, you are giving him back his weapons. If he has any reason to do that again I am offlining his glitched aft._"

Miles started to laugh, plopping down on the ground by Orion. The sparkling was playing with a few toys that they had been able to buy for him, currently batting a bouncy ball back and forth between his servos. "Do I want to know the rest?"

"_Just don't ask. Just. Don't. Ask._" Bumblebee played a soundclip from the radio, adding a happy click here and there to show his amusement.

"Okay, I don't think I want to know the rest." Sam laughed as well, shaking his head.

"_Sam, Miles, I got my leg broke and now we have this really cool electronic wheelchair made by Jack!_" Epps came on, sounding excited. "_This baby can go so fast, you have to try it out when you get back._"

"_Epps, that is not a playtoy._" Prowl scolded. "_It is meant to help while you are unable to move about as efficiently._"

"_But Prowlll,_" Epps whined, dragging out the 'l' sound for extra effect.

"_No._"

"_Ah'm sorry, sounds like Prowler's gone and whipped yah purdy good since Ah left._" Jazz laughed over the link. "_Prowler, he's mah Charge, if yah want one to fuss o'er so bad go sign up for a new one._"

Sam caught what had been said, and glanced over at Miles. Miles was too busy cooing over Orion to bother paying attention to the fact that Prowl was apparently no long his Guardian. He snorted softly, and couldn't help but think if it wasn't Barricade he was somehow going to find a way to kick the mech's aft.

"Query: Approximate time until reaching destination?" Soundwave asked. Somehow he was just not wanting to deal with the teens and his Cassetticons again.

"_Oh, I'd say a couple more hours. Then the boys can be examined by Ratchet, and then be handed over to their Guardians._" Optimus replied, though he seemed to stress guardians a little.

That was when Miles seemed to catch on, and Sam watched his friend freeze in the motion of rolling Orion's ball back to him. Ravage sat beside Soundwave, though the cat mech looked amused. Soundwave looked as monotone as ever, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw just didn't care, Ratbat looked curious, and Orion was oblivious. Then Miles got a big cheesy grin on his face.

* * *

><p>"<em>Awww, someone's getting a hug when they get here!<em>" Miles practically cooed over the link. This caused Sam and Epps to start laughing, and Bumblebee himself accidentally knocked in to Barricade while his entire frame was shaking with laughter.

Barricade growled, "You can take your Primus forsaken hug and shove it up your aft!"

"Oh, speaking of shoving things up afts... Excuse me while I go on a private link with Soundwave and the others for a minute." Ratchet flashed his headlights, before doing just that, cutting Bumblebee, Optimus, Jazz, and Barricade out of the link.

"_How does shoving thing up afts remind him of something?_" Epps pondered, then paused. "_Actually I really, really, don't want to know._"

"Okay." Was all Ratchet said before he fixed it so they were all on. Sam could be heard laughing harder than normal.

"_Oh,_" Sam wheezed, "_I can't tell if this will be great or horrible._"

The sound of Soundwave venting lightly, "_Assumption: Both._"

"Someone just better take a video." Ratchet grinned, or would have if he was in bipedal form. Even an old mech like him had a few tricks up their sleeves.

"_Ravage: Offers assistance to capture image._" Soundwave offered for his creation.

Slowly, Optimus fell back from his spot beside Ratchet so he was trailing next to Jazz, with Bumblebee and Barricade behind them. The Prime couldn't help but be a little worried when it came to Ratchet doing something.

"Ratchet," He said softly, "As your Prime, I order you to tell me what you told them."

Ratchet sighed, "Of course, sir." A pause. "What you told them."

There was silence for a moment, before Sam, Miles, Bumblebee, Jazz, Epps, and Prowl broke in to laughter. Optimus was befuddled, however, and was just starting to get that he had been duped.

"Ratchet!" Optimus called, a slight warning to his tone.

Ratchet snorted, before turning on his sirens and racing away. Now that he had his secret card to look forward to he wanted to get their as quickly as possible. And it helped that he was getting away from a slightly embarrassed, slightly angry leader.

* * *

><p><strong>An hour or two later<strong>

Prowl paused in the game of checkers he had started with Epps as he listened to the sounds coming from Soundwave's third of the link. Chains could be heard rattling, as well as the sound of metal wings flapping, and then the occasional joyous laugh.

"Whatever it is that's going on over there, I don't think it sounds safe, Soundwave." He said, slightly hesitant. He knew that the mech was more than capable of handling whatever situation came up, but he also knew that the way humans could behave and put themselves into danger was just slightly startling and unexpected.

"_They are almost adults even by their own species' standards. I believe they can look after their own wellbeing._"

Epps snorted, "Hasn't been around humans long, has he?"

"I'm afraid not." Prowl vented softly.

* * *

><p>Optimus sighed, knowing he only had two legs before his hangman would be dead. "What about an O?"<p>

"_Negative._" Soundwave's voice drifted out.

Optimus cursed softly, riding beside Ratchet again. The Med-bot was just oozing an amused aura, and Bumblebee and Jazz were taking no precautions in teasing their leader. 'Losing a simple game of hangman to a Decepticon, boss? Wooow.'

"I?"

"_Af-Samual, wall is fast approaching._" Soundwave called out quickly, trying to save the teen.

"_Wha-_" And then a hard thunk.

Silence reined for about three seconds, before Ratbat spoke after another thunk was hard. "_I think he offlined himself!_" The young mech whispered in horror.

"_Observation: Need for Cybertronian Guardian is seen._" Soundwave replied, sounding calm even as Miles started to laugh his ass off.

"What the frag happened? I have enough work without them causing themselves injury!" Ratchet growled. Optimus was suddenly happy he couldn't get wrenches in alt mode.

Miles was trying to answer, but he was laughing too hard. Soundwave answered instead, almost hesitant in doing so. "_You do not really wish to know, Medic. Samual is fine._"

They could hear Sam groan just as Miles stopped laughing, and Bumblebee visibly relaxed on his wheels.

"_Hey Sammie, how do y-Ow! What the Pit was that for?_" Miles, the concerned best friend was asking, only to be hit in response. Or so it sounded.

Sam huffed, "_For laughing!_"

"_What?_" Miles cried. "_Oh, come on! You don't even know I was! I wasn't laughing, was I Wavey!_"

"_Correction: You were. Query: Is there something wrong with your memory?_"

Miles groaned, "_No, Wavey, you're supposed to lie for me!_"

The six Cybertronians and one human listened in as they went back and forth.

"_Two hundred bucks says he ends up somewhat like Prowl, with all his illogical nonsense. Maybe even develops the earth quake glitch._" Epps said, grin evident in his voice. Prowl merely made a sniffing noise.

Optimus laughed, "Inquisitive."

There was a pause in the fighting on Soundwave's side. "_Slag..._"

"_Prime: 1, Soundwave: 0. Boss, ya bein' beat by the Prime! Step it up!_" Ratbat, the youngest creation, scolded Soundwave.

* * *

><p><em><strong>More hours later <strong>_(Nevada to Canada is a slagging ROAD TRIP)__

Barricade was waiting patiently, or, as patiently as the mech could wait. He was currently glaring at everyone and everything, because he could and for some reason they deserved it, while waiting for Ratchet to get done examining Miles. The very first one to get there had been the Medic, and he had nearly tackled Miles in his rush to check over the teen. Barricade would have found this funny if the med-bot didn't take so long to go over the results by adding rechecks to the rechecks of the rechecks of the tests. To make it worse, he could feel the teen and the medic glance at him every now and then, which put him on edge. Anything involving Miles with a mischievous glint in his eye put Barricade on edge, but add up the Autobot Chief Medical Officer and that just made it worse.

Only Orion and the Cassetticons weren't using holoforms at the moment. Everyone else was just to make the movement that much easier, and so the teens wouldn't have to go outside to freeze just to be checked over.

Jazz, having been the second to reach Soundwave's position, had actually tackled Sam, then proceeded to toss the teen over his shoulder. Bumblebee had tried to take his Charge, but Jazz had started a game of keep away, and Bumblebee had yet to catch the Sabetour. Jazz would sit or stand somewhere with the teen, and Bumblebee would try to sneak up, but then Jazz would run again.

Optimus was talking to Soundwave, and the Cassetticons were playing with Orion. Well, Ratbat, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw were. Ravage was acting like the annoyed older brother who had to deal with his little siblings.

Miles walked over to his newly appointed Guardian, shivering. Ratchet glared at Barricade, "Warm up your holoform for him." The medbot had asked Miles to delayer himself quite a bit so that his scans wouldn't be disturbed.

Barricade debated between glaring and outright saying no, or glaring and doing it. He decided to go for the last option, expending more energy so his holoform would actually feel warm.

"Thanks, Barry-bear!" Miles grinned, moving closer to the holoform and practically jumping on to it, shoving his hands up under the shirt. Barricade simply rolled his eyes, but froze as the teen started to move his fingers and he felt a feeling he had never felt before.

Not even a minute later Barricade was on the floor, laughing uncontrollably as Miles tickled him, and was desperately attempting to push the teen off, but it wasn't working. Miles was straddling his hips, using his own legs to keep Barricade's from jerking around to knock him off. The only two who didn't freeze and stare was Ratchet and Orion. The Medic simply smirked, and Orion was practically gleeful over the sight, finding it hilarious, and showing this by clapping his servos together and clicking happily. While Soundwave and the Cassetticons had been told with Miles, they didn't understand what Ratchet had meant, and didn't bother finding out as it wasn't directed to them. Sam, even though he knew it could and would happen, was still shocked by the sight. He was the first to get over it though, and started to laugh himself.

"Now, Barricade, I didn't think you'd mind me adding this little feature while you were under in my medbay. You do seem to be enjoying it a lot." Ratchet drawled, smirking, as he walked over to the teen and the holoform on the ground. "It's amazing what your sensors on the holoform can be coded to react to, and you are currently being, as the humans called it, tickled. I did think ahead and triggered a protocal to kick on so you wouldn't send poor Miles flying off whenever he attempted to do this. Right now you're about the strength as he is."

Barricade couldn't manage a response. The whole thing was surprisingly realistic, and it was as close to being tickled as a Cybertronian was ever going to get with a holoform. The reactions were to laugh, and then to attempt to suck in a breath, even though he had no reason to breathe. And even though he was about equally matched to the teen in strength, he couldn't manage to get the teen off long enough to compose himself. Miles was just having too much fun.

"Ratch, could you do this for Bee?" Sam asked, trying to sound innocent.

Jazz snickered as Bumblebee looked at Sam with wide eyes.

"Ratchet, as much as I do enjoy this, I'll have to ask you to not do this without the permission of the given mech again." Optimus scolded lightly.

"Sure thing, sir." Ratchet responded, and it was obvious to everyone that he wouldn't listen. Optimus sighed.

Miles stood up from Barricade, striking a triumphant pose as the holoform twitched and panted, curling into himself a bit. "I win, I defeated Barricade!" This seemed to just make Barricade angry, as the holoform abruptly stood up.

"Like the _Pit _you did!" Barricade snarled, tackling the teen to the ground and turning the tables on him.

Everyone pretty much ignored the two, though Sam found it hilarious that Cybertronians, or at least ex-cons, didn't know the second definition of the word 'uncle'. Or if he did, Barricade was sure acting like he didn't.


	30. Shrimp and Mayo pizza

**AN: No answering reviews because I messed my whole thing up. This is CHAPTER 30. Short and simple chapter.**

* * *

><p>"Wait, wait, WAIT. What did you say?" Miles exclaimed, sitting upright in Barricade. He had been laying out in the front seat, the travelling Autobots, Neutral, and Decepticons just getting ready to leave. Sam had of course gotten inside Bumblebee. All the mechs were using the open comm link so they could communicate back and forth with eachother, as well as the NEST base back in Nevada. Soundwave's alt mode was a typical soccer mom's van, and all his Cassetticons were inside of him. Orion was inside of Optimus.<p>

"That since we're in Canada, the trip back to the NEST base will take awhile." Optimus reiterated.

"So... That means... Pfft!" And Miles started to laugh. Hard.

Sam turned in his seat, looking at Miles through Bumblebee's back windshield. "Miles? Bro? What's up? You're scaring us here..."

That's when Epps laughter drifted through all of the radio's. The Sergeant obviously got whatever Miles was laughing about, and was amused as well, but even when asked by Prowl he wouldn't explain.

"Sam," Miles said shakily, gulping in huge breaths of air as he tried to calm down. "We're _aliens_." Bumblebee snorted, and Barricade would have rolled his optics if he was in bipedal form.

Then, "Oh my God. We're aliens inside of _aliens_!"

"_Now that is some major Twilight Zone shit. Aliens inside of aliens? Crazy man. My life is... complete. It's complete._" Epps snickered, and they could hear a soft smacking sound. "_Ow! Will, you slagger!_"

"Slagger!" A new voice chirped happily, followed by rapid fire clicking and a giggle. "Slagger, slagger!"

There was a sudden shocked silence. This lasted for about a second.

"**_ROBERT EPPS!_**" This was the combined voices of Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, and Optimus.

"_It's always the black guy!_"

* * *

><p>After Epps had recieved his thorough chewing out by the four angry Autobots, everything had calmed down. Except then Orion would repeat the Cybertronian cussword, and it would start all over again. Miles had laughed at Epps, as had Sam, in the beginning, but then the two had quickly gotten bored. Sam fell asleep for a few hours, only to be brought back to the real world by Miles.<p>

"-SO MUCH MONEY YOU-PIZZA-HATE-SOUNDWAVE!" Bumblebee had been startled by the sudden outburst, and had been trying to cut it off so it wouldn't wake Sam.

It appeared everyone else was just as startled, since nothing was said at first.

Soundwave spoke up hesitantly, "I... apologize?"

"Ratchet, I think you need to give Miles a thorough mental check up when we return to the base." Barricade commented, voice as dull as one's would be when commenting on the weather.

Miles growled, "I don't need a mental check up, Barry! It's his fault! He made me miss out on my pizza! You know how much that cost?"

"Oh, Miles, you didn't." Sam sighed, sitting up. He knew exactly what his best human friend was talking about now.

"I did." Miles huffed, then paused, a sheepish quality entering his voice. "And admittadly I forgot that we could all hear each other."

"So what was your point of screaming if you thought only I could hear you?" Barricade growled.

"_Someone who'd scream back so he could keep screaming?_" Will offered, laughing.

"_What is this all about? A pizza?_" Prowl asked over Will's laughing.

"It turns out that meeting giant alien robots changed one's views on life and the world in general." Sam remarked dryly. "Who knew?" This was added sarcastically. "So, when we weren't memorizing our school books page by page, we were generally bored out of our minds. Books, video games, beating each other's faces in with pillows? So not as interesting when there's a voice in the back of your mind saying that you could be experiencing this with a giant alien robot."

"We got bored easily." Miles whined.

"Very easily. When we'd take breaks from school we'd google random ideas to keep us entertained." Sam continued. "For awhile we just stuck to Omegle, but after that one dude with the turtle fetish just- No, I'm not going there. I had a nightmare after that."

"You had a nightmare after Candy Mountain, too." Miles, snickering.

"Those things steal spleens! They stole mine! That's scary!" Sam trying to defend himself.

Barricade growled, "Was there a point to this?"

"Impatient much?" Sam retorted, huffing. "So, we ended up thinking of how different the menus to say McDonalds may be over in other countries. One of them we looked at was Pizza Hut, and in Japan they had this pizza with shrimp. Like the crust has mayo and shrimp in it or something, right? Well I, being normal, was disgusted. Miles however suggested we call the local pizza hut and see if they could make it, and badger them pointlessly when they said no. Like I said, we were bored. However, I didn't think Miles would go that far."

Miles smirked, "Did you know Trent worked at Pizza Hut? I kept requesting him."

Sam groaned, and muttered something about Miles having a death wish.

"_Oh, that explains everything. We wondered why Trent stormed in pissed yelling about you and Sam disappearing just to mess with him._" Epps snickered. "_By the way, can't wait to have you guys back._"

"_I wonder if they'll still make that..._" Will trailed off.

"I actually hope so. I really want to try it now." Miles sighed.

"Okay, eww." Sam muttered at the same time Epps went, "_Disgusting!_"

Miles and Will laughed. Barricade sighed, "I think both Miles and Will, Ratchet."

* * *

><p>"<em>Guys, where are you?<em>" Will's voice came over the radio.

"We just entered Topeka, Kansas, why?" Miles responded. The name had him laughing from some tv show he had watched that had made fun of it.

"_Intruder alert! Intruder alert!_" Epps cried, the sound of him running into the control room where Will and Prowl was drifting across. "_That Bristish bastard let them in! We're going to die._"

Sam blinked, staring at Bumblebee's radio. "When did we get someone British?"

"NEST is trying to involve other countries. British Special Air Service Forces agent Graham." Optimus informed the two teens, who were the only ones out of the loop. He was also telling Soundwave and the Cassetticons, but he doubted they cared.

"And as good as that is," Barricade drawled sarcastically, "What exactly do you mean by intruders, Epps?"

"_The mothers._" Epps whispered.

Just then the control room door slamming open could be heard. The human sized one, anyway.

"_Robert, William._" Elizabeth's voice floated out to the travelling group, sounding almost too sweet and happy. "_Where are our babies?_"

"_Elizabeth, Judy, it is nice to see you both again._" Prowl greeted the two women. There was silence for a moment.

"_Prowl, I'd suggest not speaking unless you want involved. We have issues with these soldiers._" Judy.

A hesitant pause. "_Understood._" Prowl clearly still remembered the rolling pin incident.

Will coughed, "_Judy, Lizzie, your boys are on their way to this base as we speak._"

"_And why aren't they on their way to their homes?_" Elizabeth asked, sounding just as sweet as before.

Sam and Miles looked at each other, grinning. Bumblebee and Barricade drove side by side so the two teens could communicate to each other through hand signals and expressions.

"_Uh, well... Ratch's better than any human doctor concerning their... circumstances?_" Epps replied, though in the end it sounded more like a question.

There was a beat of silence. "_Our babies were hurt?_" Judy again, her voice taking on a dangerous note.

Sam snickered, "Mom, we're fine!"

"_Sammie! Oh baby, are you okay? What about Miles?_"

"I'm fine, Judy." Miles grinned. "And sorry, I kinda drug Sam along for the ride."

"_Miles Milton Lancaster, we are going to have a talk when you get home!_"

Miles flinched slightly. The dreaded full name had been used, and he knew he was in for it. "Sorry, mom, but I had to. It was Orion. And it wasn't like it would have made much difference whether I willingly got kidnapped or not. Still would've gotten kidnapped."

"Soundwave: Apologizes for causing femme creator's worry. Objective: Protect the sparkling."

"_Soundwave, is it? I'm Judy, Sam's mother._"

"_I'm Elizabeth, Miles' mother._"

Then they spoke together, "_And you're going to be doing a lot more than apologizing when we get through with you._"

* * *

><p>By the time they finally got back to Nevada, most of Christmas Day was already over, and the two boys were starving. Ratchet was reluctant to let them drink anymore Energon, and there wasn't anywhere open in the United States on this particular holiday. Even Walmart closed its' doors.<p>

So the two mothers had commandeered the NEST cafeteria, and cooked up a feast. It had been the first place the boys had gone, despite Elizabeth and Judy's protests as they were dragged away to wait in the medbay, and that only lasted about twenty minutes. When they reemerged Bumblebee teased them, saying he was surprised they actually managed to leave the plate's behind.

While they had been eating, Elizabeth and Judy had been allowed to corner Soundwave while he was being looked over by Ratchet, and teach him the wrath of a human femme. Ratchet had barely managed to not laugh, though he did let out a little snort when Soundwave's optics widened at some of the things Judy was threatening to do with his exhaust port. After they had finished Soundwave had calmly stated that he was now happy he could not read human's minds.

And then came the reunion, as Judy and Elizabeth practically tackled their sons, then dragged them off to do their own health checks. If it looked like either of the boys was ready to start crying with their mothers, no one said a thing.

Now they all sat in the human rec-room, minus Soundwave, his Cassetticons, Prowl, and Prime. The two teens were fighting sleep, and their mothers were letting them, happy just to have their children back in one piece. After awhile Epps commented that since everything the teens had brought to make the rec-room interesting had been tossed out along with them, that it was boring and they needed to bring stuff back in.

"Boring, huh?" Bumblebee asked, a devious smirk finding its' place on his face. "Let me and 'Cade put on a show for you then."

He proceeded to tackle the ex-con, and tickle him. This shut Epps up, as he and Miles began to laugh gleefully, and Sam to snicker.


	31. Pink and green packaging peanuts

**AN: This is chapter THIRTY ONE. If you're looking for THIRTY, go back. IDK if you guys got alerted of a new chapter or not since I deleted the Author's Note then reuploaded the chapter?**

**Reviews: **Thanks to _Autobot Firekat_, _TransformerJunkie, Fk306 animelover,_ and _SailorMoon20114486_ for reviewing! :D  
><em>The Result of Squffie: <em>Thanks for pointing that out, but I decided not to go back and fix it. Have Sam make a mistake, or whatever!  
><em><span>Noella50881:<span>_ Are you really going to try that? If so, tell me how it is!

* * *

><p>It was a testament of just how used the NEST Cybertronians were getting used to humans. Some more than others, but those some were the needed targets in this case.<p>

Almost all of the NEST Cybertronians had no problem with going into recharge with a human inside of them. Only some could go into recharge with a human inside of them, and stay in recharge even if the human got out, got back in, and so on. There was a total of only four who could do it, and one of them could only do it with one person. Bumblebee, Ironhide, Barricade, and Sunstreaker. Jazz was almost there, but his Special Ops training was getting in the way of it.

It hadn't even been a full week since Sam, Miles, and Orion had been returned to NEST when the plan was put into action. The plan was, naturally, planned out well, especially when one of the Autobots was roped into helping out. A movie night had been suggested, but one that had to be held outside, so that the projector could project the movie on to one of the walls. Sam and Miles had no knowledge of the plan, but could see the mischievous looks that Jazz and Epps shared through out the night. They just didn't really care, since they doubted it would be them in the line of fire.

It was cold that night, so Sam had stayed in Bumblebee, Miles had stayed in Barricade, Will in Ironhide, and Epps in Jazz. When the two teens had fallen asleep, Barricade and Bumblebee had grown bored quickly, and slipped into recharge themselves. The two young Cybertronians had activated their Guardian protocals since they both had their own Charge, and these were on high alert with what had recently happened. Neither were going to order the teens out into their own beds, though Barricade, true to his nature, did put on a show of complaining. Ironhide went into recharge with Will still awake, leading the Captain to climb out of the Weapons Speciliast and smirk at his Jazz and Epps.

They woke up the two teens, then ushered them out.

* * *

><p>A few hours passed by, and the three pranksters gathered some of their fellow NEST members around the still in recharge Cybertronians. It helped that Jazz could jack their systems and make sure that didn't wake up until they were supposed to. Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Fig, Miles, Sam, Prowl, Ravage, and Soundwave stood, waiting.<p>

"Al'ight, looks like everyone's 'ere!" Jazz grinned. "'ow Sunshine, Ah wan you tah scream somethin' along the lines of Decepticon attack."

Prowl frowned, "This is highly inappropriate, and none of the three will appreciate this. Ja-" He was effectively cut off by Ratchet, who made a few quick movements that shut off his vocal components.

"Now, Sam, Miles, after he does that, you guys and Will are gonna do your own scream or something, 'kay?" Epps asked, waiting for the nod. The two teens nodded, and he smirked.

Jazz held up his servo, and signaled for Sunstreaker to proceed.

"**_OH SLAG IT'S THE DECEPTICONS! EVERYONE GET READY TO BEAT SOME AFT! HO-HUMANS OUTTA THE WAY!_**"

He smacked his hand hard against the ground to make a loud clashing noise, and the three humans took this as their cue to scream.

Hearing the alarm even while in recharge, battle protocals activated in microseconds, pulling the three out of recharge quickly. Guardian protocals activated a second after when Sam, Miles, and Will screamed. Bumblebee was the first to react, transforming in an instant. Barricade followed not even a second later, but then both froze. Ironhide transformed to bipedal form, arm changing into a cannon, when he too froze. In his shock he let his cannon finishing powering up, and fired off a blast.

Everyone watched in surprise as the three mechs transformed. Thousands, no _hundreds _of _thousands_, or tiny pink and green packaging peanuts began to pour out of Bumblebee as he transformed. Some were scrunched between metal plates as they shifted and reformed, or destroyed completely. Barricade transformed, and the result was the same. Ironhide's transformation was, too, until he fired his cannon. All that happened was that thousands of tiny pink and green peanuts shot out to rain down on the assembled group of Cybertronians and humans.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Fig, Sam, and Miles started to guffaw, followed quickly by Epps, Jazz, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe. Prowl looked like he was shaking with silent laughter, his voice vocaliser still shut off. Ratchet was smirking, and Optimus looked amused even with his battle mask down.

The pink and green packaging peanuts continued to pour out of the three mechs, though now the wave was slower. Most were now surrounding them on the floor and piling up around their peds as they stood there in shock. Bumblebee bent down and picked up a handful. A strained sound left his vocaliser, before he tossed the packaging peanuts in Barricade's face, and started to laugh out right.

Sam followed his Guardian's example, and picked up a handful of the tiny peanuts. Smirking, he tossed them at Miles.

"PEANUT FIGHT!" He yelled, and the room disrupted into chaos.

* * *

><p>"What in the world...?" Trent looked around the outside area in shock. Mikaela had been there for a few days, but then her father had gotten sick and she needed to leave, so Trent had been left in her place.<p>

The walkway was covered in pink and green packaging peanuts, and there was even several large piles of them. In several different places large materials were turned on their sides or stacked together.

Trent looked up at Blaster, raising an eyebrow. Blaster returned his look, "Optimus suggested I should come out here, and bring you with me. I am just as lost as you are."

Neither spoke as they looked around themselves once more.

"I have a new message, this one from Bumblebee." Blaster said, and Trent looked up at him expectantly. "Most only know him by his Chinese name. Ho Lee Schitt." The mech sounded almost amused.

"Wha-" Trent was cut off as he heard a sudden loud scream to his right. He spun to that side, watching with wide eyes as Sam darted out from behind a make shift barrier and head sprinting towards him.

"Holy shit!" Was all he managed before Sam gave another war cry, and tackled him into one of the piles of packaging peanuts.

* * *

><p>Judy and Elizabeth stared at the scene before them, looking highly amused.<p>

"And just who do you expect to clean this mess up, hmm?" Elizabeth asked, trying hard not to laugh.

A chorus of groans was her only answer.

After Sam and Bumblebee had effectively challenged Barricade and Miles, who only naturally dragged in others, it had gone down hill. Soundwave, Ravage, and Prowl had quickly escaped, even while teams were being formed.

Barricade had Miles and Will, and they were team Flower Power. Bumblee had Sam and Fig, and they were team Buzz like a Bee. Jazz had Epps, and they made team Awesome-o. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe joined up with Ratchet, creating team Medico. When asked about the name, the Twins claimed it was from one of the fan-fictions they had read where Ironhide and Ratchet were together, and Ironhide referred to Ratchet as a Medico. And Optimus and Ironhide joined forces, calling themselves the Destroyers. Well, Ironhide had deemed them that. Optimus had just laughed. When Blaster and Trent came, they too became another team, and were thus dubbed Late to the Party.

At first, it seemed that even with the abundance of packaging peanuts they were going to have a shortage somewhere. But then Epps and Will snuck off with Jazz's holoform, all three driving back three dumpster trucks full of the green and pink things.

Then things had turned crazy. They all went to war with eachother, using the tiny pink and green packaging peanuts as ammo. There was occasional wrestling too, but barriers had been built in various strategic places to create cover and places to hide.

And now it was all over. All the Cybertronians were laid out in various places on the ground, cooling fans in high gear. Sam laying over Fig, both too lazy to move. Will was sprawled on top of Ironhide, and Miles was sprawled on top of Optimus, though no one was sure when or how he had gotten there. Trent was leaning up against Blaster, and Epps was laying on the hard ground, eyes closed as he panted. The sounds of pinging metal as it cooled down, the occasional shift of a human or Cybertronian, and the cooling fans and panting were the only sounds for a couple of minutes before Elizabeth and Judy had come out to see them.

Judy laughed, "Just how long has this been going on?"

"Well, we woke 'em up a' about... 8:30 this mornin', and i' only took us abou' ten minutes tah start fightin'..." Jazz explained, though he didn't bother to explain who the them was. It was now six at night, and they had skipped lunch. Everyone had left them alone, though Judy and Elizabeth had come to stop them since it was almost dinner time. And they had business to take care of.

"And whose idea was it?" Judy asked.

Jazz and Epps pointed at Will.

"You slagger!" Ironhide cursed, shifting just slightly as he poked Will. The human groaned, attempting to shove the annoying appendage away. Both of the mother's laughed, Elizabeth shaking her head while Judy grinned.

"We came out for two things," Judy started. "Dinner's almost done, and we need to talk to you Optimus."

There was a groan as Optimus shifted, attempting to sit up, then stopping. "You mean work?" He asked softly, his tone almost a childish whine.

This set everyone off into a small round of laughter.

"We just wanted to talk to you about our babies' schooling." Elizabeth grinned, ignoring Miles' 'Aw, mom!'.

"Oh, okay." Optimus laid back down, obviously not thinking of it as too important. "Whatever you think is best. I agree completely."

Judy smirked, "Good. We'll be ready to move in by next week."

Miles yelped in surprise as Optimus sat up quickly. He went from laying on the Prime's check plates, to landing on his his leg with a soft thump. His overworked body protested at the slightly rough treatment, and he groaned, before sliding off Optimus' leg and crawling over a few feet and laying next to Barricade.

Sam stared at his mother in surprise. Epps broke down into laughter once more, and Ratchet was shaking his head, muttering something about stupid Prime's who would get them all killed.

"_What?_" Sam and Optimus asked together.

* * *

><p>Miles sat in Will's office's chair, spinning himself around and around as he waited with Will and Epps. Sam and Optimus were currently fighting with Judy and Elizabeth.<p>

"So..." Epps began, only to trail off.

Miles grinned, "Guess I'm movin' in. I mean, I guess I see why. Soundwave was able to find us pretty easily. It just happened to be at a time when there was no NEST Cybertronian around and we were more vunerable, but those two can't always be with us anyay."

* * *

><p>Sam slumped visibly on Optimus' desk, and the Matrix bearer himself vented softly in the Cybertronian version of a sigh.<p>

"Sam and Miles can move in, along with Mikaela and Trent, for safety purposes, and complete their teaching here. The rest of you will only be able to stay during visitations, however."

And the next round of fighting began.

* * *

><p>In the end they ended up making the compromise Optimus had offered. The teens would be allowed to move in, and be offered online classes as well as being driven to a class occasionally when needed. Their families would be allowed to visit, but only for a certain amount of time.<p>

Even though they had lost a bit of what they wanted, Judy and Elizabeth had still sauntered out with their heads held high. Optimus had followed with Sam sitting in his hand, both looking like they had just went a round with five Megatrons and came out on the losing side.

This was an unending source of amusement for everyone at the dinner table with them, and holoforms were a lot more expressive then their natural Cybertronian expressions would have been.

The only thing that had brought down their mood was when Prowl had appeared, saying everyone who had participated, minus Optimus, Ratchet, and Blaster, had to pick up every single last one of the packaging peanuts up. Miles and Sam were assigned the duty of helping pick out any stuck ones from Bumblebee and Barricade even if they hadn't helped out, and Jazz and Will were assigned to Ironhide.

Once Prowl had left it had been rather quiet, until Miles leaned back in his seat and smirked.

"You know, he only said we had to pick them up, not what we had to do with them..."


	32. Helping GrahamCracker

**AN: So, doing something on the NEST base without it being a complete goofing around! YAY!**

**Reviews: Thanks to **_writergurl616, TransformerJunkie,_ and _Fk306 animelover_ for reviewing! LOVE YOU ALLLL  
><em><span>BrowneyedShamer:<span>_ I'm so happy that you enjoy this, and it could help cheer you up after your surgery! As for Miles and Barricade: Right now I imagine just bromance, though I am torn. I do have a seperate piece of a previous chapter that does have BxM, just because I like the idea, buuut I don't think I'll actually pair them together in this story. However, if I bother to continue _What a Smooth Cat_ I might put it in there.  
><em><span>Jacqueline Walker:<span>_ Yay, a new reviewer! I'm glad you like it :)

**AN2: **_BrowneyedShamer_ is not the first to ask me about having BxM, because I am kind of hanging on the edge of that friendship/brother or friendship/romance thing. This is mainly because of my own indecision over whether or not I want them together. So far I have no plans of putting them together as more than close friends in this story, however, I would like to know my reader's opinions. **What do you all think of Barricade/Miles**? Are there any other non-cannon pairings that you might want to see?

**AN3: **Before this story I really had no desire to write fanfiction. I didn't even think I'd be even remotely good at it, but the '07, '09, and the newest transformer movie are fairly easy to understand, or at least base some characters off of. And the fact that Miles just basically disappeared annoyed me. For me, I enjoy writing this story, and adding a hopefully strong does of humor to it. I've found I enjoy thinking up these humoruous things, and then writing about them.  
>I hope that others like this story just as much as I do, and that I can make you laugh! Thank you all for reading!<p>

* * *

><p>Sam was alone in the kitchen with Graham. One of the newest members of NEST, and the British man didn't seem to be doing so well. He avoided Epps, Will, and Fig beyond what was necessary, as Will was the Captain, and Epps technically his SIC. The British man seemed to stick to training his regime of soldiers, and that was that. He tended to avoid the Cybertronians.<p>

This had caused Will and Epps to become a little less then inviting towards their newest fellow NEST soldier. Fig was a little better, but not by much, considering he spent a lot of his time helping Sideswipe when anything set Sunstreaker off. Which happened to be a lot.

"How can you two do that?" Graham asked Sam, standing next to the teen as they did dishes. "Well, Miles does it more, but you've done it too..."

Sam blinked, "Can you define what we're doing? We do a lot of stuff."

"Sleep in them. The Cybertronians."

"Oh, that, well... I dunno, I guess we feel safe. I know Miles has been doing it more if he has a nightmare or something, like I did after Mission City." Sam shrugged. "They're our friends, and we know they'll keep us safe. It helps that they can make themselves really comfy, too."

"Oh."

They were silent for awhile as they continued doing their chores. Sam washed, and Graham dried. The teen kept glancing over at the older man, remembering all too well how jumpy he was around the Cybertronians. He didn't like to ride in their hands, and would prefer to drive himself.

"So what about you, dude? You seem pretty jumpy around the mechs. That's not gonna go over well if you want to stay here."

Graham started to put the dried dishes away. "I don't want to offend them."

"If you offend them they'll just tell you. Besides, they're pretty open minded when it comes to us."

"Yeah, tell me by eating me." Graham snorted.

"...What?"

"Oh, come on Sam. You should know, too. Sideswipe said if something offends one then they eat it."

Sam started to snicker, and Graham stared at the teen.

"Oh, Primus, Graham!" Sam laughed. "No, just no."

A short silence. "So...I won't be eaten?"

Snickers. "No. Never listen to Sideswipe."

"But Fig told me I should always listen to whatever any Cybertronian says..."

"Did you bother checking the list of what humans have been claimed by the Cybertronians, and therefore you shouldn't do anything to because said Cybertronian, or Cybertronains, might decide to get you? I know Prowl started to give them out, Will said so. Fig's the twins major!"

Graham scowled, "Excuse me, I believe I need to go have a talk with someone." And the older male strode out of the kitchen.

Sam just snickered. The teen suddenly understood why the British soldier had been acting the way he had.

* * *

><p>Miles was in the medbay, sitting on Ratchet's desk as he watched the Chief Medical Officer work on Barricade's arm. From what Miles could actually understand of it, Ratchet was getting the circuitry ready for his weapons to be reinstated, but most of the big words the mech had used had flown right over the young teen's head, so he had simply nodded and not asked.<p>

Near to him stood Bumblebee, there to finish up with his vocalizer. The scout was close enough so that the two could pass a data pad back and forth, playing tic-tac-toe. So far they had 132 consecutive ties. Mainly they kept playing to annoy Ratchet, who had gotten aggravated when the two started to play I-spy when Sam had been with them, and had told them to see how many times they could play tic-tac-toe. So they had continued, loudly announcing that it was a tie each time.

When Miles felt his phone go off, he was understandably more than happy to look at his new message. Doing something to annoy Ratchet never got old, especially when he couldn't toss anything at a human, but that didn't mean tic-tac-toe didn't get boring after so long. He saw it was from Sam.

_Come to the cafe roof. Alone ;D_

"He-" Miles started, but was quickly cut off by Ratchet when the CMO slammed his servo down on a table.

"It's another fragging TIE, I get it!" The med-bot snarled.

Miles blinked, then looked at the data pad. "Actually, ye-no...If I took my next move I'd win." The teen sounded almost confused, before he looked up at Bumblebee. "You're letting me win! Cheater!"

Bumblebee clicked at him playfully, and Ratchet growled.

"So what were you going to say?"

"Hey, Bee, Sam gets weirder every day. I think it's the Cybertronians' fault, mostly yours." Miles informed, grinning.

"He-!" Bumblebee started to say in an offended manner, only to be hit about the helm with a well aimed wrench. "Ow!"

"Shut up you fragger! I said nothing beyond a few clicks and warbles!" Ratchet growled, stalking over to the yellow Autobot scout. He didn't even look at Miles before saying, "You, out."

Miles saluted Ratchet, and slipped of the CMO's desk without a word. He waited until he was out the door before saying, "See ya, Mama Hatchet!"

He wasn't too surprised when he heard a wrench hit the wall above where his head had been. Instead, he snickered.

The teen jogged all the way up to the cafeteria's roof, pausing just inside to catch his breath, then opening the door and stepping out of it. He blinked in surprise when he saw Sam standing at the center of the roof, a grin firmly on his face, and Graham standing slightly behind the teen, looking rather unhappy with the situation.

"We got us a gentleman who needs help, Miles."

Miles smirked, "Then us being the fine gentlemen we are should help out our fellow gentleman, Samual."

Graham, looking between the two, audibly sighed. He could already guess he was getting 'help' whether he wanted it or not.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so maybe the Dinobots weren't the best place to start out." Sam said, watching as Miles attempted to calm down the shaking NEST officer known as Graham. The British man was a bit paler than normal, and really all that was shaking was his hands, which held a mug of coffee in them.<p>

"They tried to _EAT_ me!" Graham cried, looking at Sam with wide and betrayed eyes. He hadn't been willing to go to Epps and Will with his little... fear, but he had hardly expected one of the teens on base to nearly get him eaten.

Miles huffed, "Grimmy did not try to eat you. That's just how he hugs. His arms are so tiny, he wraps you up in his mouth instead."

"The other one tried to fly off with me before the T-rex tried to eat me. And I don't care what you said, he tried to eat me!" Graham grumbled, glaring at the two teens.

Miles and Sam looked at each other.

"Swoop wasn't trying to fly off with you... Okay, he was. He has this bad nesting habit where if he likes something he just wants to take it with him... Especially if it's shiny." Sam offered for a weak explanation.

"Shiny as in Sunstreaker shiny. And let me tell you, that mech was _not_ happy. All of the five times it's happened. Fig'n'Sides love it though. So does everyone else." Miles grinned.

Graham just continued to glare at the two.

* * *

><p>The two teens had left Graham on his own for the moment, going into a far away corner of the room to converse with eachother.<p>

"This can't be that hard!" Sam groaned. "We just need to think of a 'bot who's the least likely to have a bad second-first impression on Graham."

After the dinobots Sam and Miles had tried introducing Graham to Bumblebee. However the young Scout was still being worked on by Ratchet, and in the process they had managed to get Bumblebee to jerk just enough that it ruined everything. The resulting 'Hatchet fit', as Sideswipe had deemed them, had scared all of them, and had the two teens quickly pushing Graham back out of the med-bay and far away from it. Poor Bumblebee couldn't follow them.

Miles nodded, "Ratchet's a no, obviously. Maybe Barry?"

"Unlike you, Barricade scares normal people when he growls and snarls."

"Aw, c'mon. You know as well as I do that's just because it's a force of habit!"

"The day Barricade breaks that 'force of habit', as you so call it, and -say- breaks into song, I will go and beg Shockwave to kill me."

"Huh... I wonder if they could be pro-"

"Miles, back on track!"

Miles huffed and pouted at his fellow teen, glancing back at Graham. The older male seemed quite content to be left alone for now.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Bee's with Ratchet, so he's a no. Prowl... maybe, but I dunno. He's kinda off putting at first with how formal he is, depending on the person."

"Blurr's a no. Need to be able to understand him, and see him, first."

"Ironhide's a definite no. Almost as bad as Ratchet."

"Wheeljack, too. Last thing we need is for Jack to use his amazing 'I can explode anything!' powers, and Graham to be caught in the crossfire."

"Ratbat's a maybe. And Orion."

"Sam, Orion is a sparkling, and Ratbat may as well be. That won't help with adult mechs!"

It was Sam's turn to huff. "True. No to either set of twins."

"Soundwave's the same as Prowl, but a bit worse because everyone still has that OMG-Decepticoooon feeling towards him. Ravage can't talk just yet."

"Well there's..." Sam trailed off as a thought came to him, and he slapped his hand to his forehead. "Optimus! Duh!"

"How did we not think of this before? Graham, gather your nuts back into your pants! We go again!"

Graham turned wide eyes towards them.

* * *

><p>"How the <em>hell<em> did this fail?" Miles whispered to Sam, eyes wide in horror.

Everything had been going perfectly. Optimus had been Optimus, the Prime who had to have a very good and large sense of humor, as well as an astounding amount of patience, to deal with his Autobots. He and Graham had been getting along perfectly, especially since Sam had taken a moment to speak to the large 'bot before having the two meet. Again.

That all ended when Graham got in Optimus' offered servo, and the two had walked out of his office ahead of Sam and Miles. The next thing they knew, there was a loud bang, and Optimus was going down. He had somehow managed to not squash Graham, catching himself with one hand just before he did. He had even been propping himself back up when Ironhide came along, and another loud bang sounded. The Weapons Specialist had fallen on his Prime.

This time it was only by a very narrow margin that Graham had escaped safely. So narrow, in fact, that some of his pants had been sacrificed in saving his life.

Naturally the British man had gotten up, clambered over the tangled pile of mechs, and paused in front of Sam and Miles as they stood with their mouths gaping. He had proceeded to growl out something like 'Never again', before running off to not be seen for the next few hours.

Sam growled, a look of anger gracing his face for one of the few times towards a member of the NEST base. "The twins!"

* * *

><p>"<em>That's<em> why we've thought Graham was just being a total aft?" Epps gaped at the two teens. Then both he and Will turned to look at Fig with a scowl.

Fig held his hands up defensively, "Honestly, I thought he would have figured it out by now, gotten close to a mech, or at least heard something! And Sideswipe never told me what he was going to say. Just back him up on it. Had I known I would have told him... within at least a week."

"First, Sideswipe is having a bad influence on you. Stick with Sunstreaker." Will glared, "And I want to have a talk with Sideswipe."

"Too late." Miles said cheerfully. "Sam channeled Hatchet _and_ Judy. Poor mech never knew what hit him."

"Ay dios mio!" Fig laughed, and no one bothered to yell at him for once. That Spanish was relatively easy to understand.

Will sighed, "So we need to extend an apology towards Graham. We do tend to tell horror stories about the 'bots at the barracks... Mostly because we never had a reason not to. No one was scared of 'em before."

"Poor Graham-cracker." Epps frowned.

"I think he might like it better when you two were ignoring him." Miles smirked.

* * *

><p>The two teens and three soldiers stood with their mouths hanging open as they looked at the scene before them.<p>

Trailbreaker, who had stuck to himself and his fellow 'bots for the most part, while staying polite towards the organics, had Graham sitting on his shoulder as he worked on an alarm system that Wheeljack had designed to be put around the base's perimeter.

He had been asked to take a needed component to Trailbreaker by a human who had been asked by Wheeljack, but the other human was busy, and it wasn't like Graham could politely refuse as he had nothing he had to do at that time. So, filled with fear after the past adventures of the day, he had gone and seeked out Trailbreaker, helping the mech out as he requested.

Trailbreaker, who held a fear of stepping on the strange tiny organics when he should be protecting them, which stemmed from his low self confidence, had decided that being polite should overrule his feelings towards the organics. So the he had began a conversation, and somehow the two had managed to hit it off.

The British man had a grin on his face, and was talking away happily towards the mech. The mech seemed to be responding in kind, though none of them, not even Miles, could hear the low spoken conversation.

"GAH!" Sam cried, throwing his hands in the air dramatically.

Graham looked at Sam in shock, though he was more shocked to see his fellow NEST soldiers with the two teens then what Sam had did. "Uh... Problem solved?"

"Welcome to the base, Graham-cracker." Epps snickered, grinning.


	33. The disappearance of Epps Jr

**AN: Somehow this turned out a lot longer than I meant it to be... but that's okay, since I wanted to write something suggested that hinted at BxM, but wasn't anything concrete! :**

**Reviews: **Thanks to _Noella50881,_ _Autobot Firekat,_ and _Fk306 animelover_ for reviewing!  
><em><span>Kitty1994:<span> _Ahaha, I don't know Blackout at all, really, nor have I ever even heard of BarricadexBlackout, so I can't say I have a preference for them. JazzxProwl I do like though! And as for a Cybertronian being a human's rival for love... All I keep imagining is the word SPLAT!  
><em><span>TransformerJunkie:<span>_ Thanks for sharing your opinion! I actually love SamxBee, but I also think they make a great brother-friend bond kind of thing, too.  
><em><span>Jacqueline Walker<span>_: Waiiit, whaat? What are you drawing, and would you share? :D  
><em><span>BrownEyedShamer:<span>_ I think Miles is left out to much in the movie-verse, and Barricade too. I love the both of them, and for some reason I just see the two getting along in my head. Thanks for sharing your opinion! :)

**AN2: So my laptop is dying. I'm using my dad's home one atm, but idk if this will have an affect on how I update or not. It depends.**

* * *

><p>Somehow, Sergeant Robert Epps had come to find a tape recorder in his possession. In truth it was Will's fault, as he had opted to skip that one meeting and given it to Epps to make sure that his close friend didn't miss anything important.<p>

Epps being Epps took more enjoyment than a normal person should from having a tape recorder. For an entire week, Epps used the tape recorder wherever he went. Graham had jokingly named it Epps Jr., and after that it was referred to as the black man's 'child'.

None one thought he'd catch anything substantial. At first there were jokes about catching ghosts on tape, or maybe finally being able to find out what the Cybertronians were saying when they knew the humans couldn't hear. By the fourth day the hype had died down to everyone but Epps. On the seventh day nearly everyone had even forgotten Epps had it, except those he interviewed with it.

"So, Sam, tell the audience what it's like to live with G.R.A, or our favorite name for them, the NBE's?" Epps questioned seriously, though there was a smirk on his face and a glint in his eye as he held the tape recorder to Sam's face.

Sam groaned, "Epps, seriously, not right now! My bed broke and Miles said he'd put it together for me. Which means I'm either going to regret what he and someone else did to it, or it won't be done for a year."

"And just how did you break your bed, Samual? You and Miles getting a little frisky in there?"

"You wish." Sam snorted, "It was Ratchet and Ironhide." After the humans had found out how annoyed Ratchet came by speculating about his love life, they naturally went out of their way to do so.

"I knew it!" Epps laughed, then proceeded to wolf whistle when they passed Ironhide, who had Will with him.

Ironhide glanced back at Epps over his shoulder, while Will just sighed. "Ignore him, 'Hide."

Sam rolled his eyes as he left one of the giant hangars and headed to the soldier barracks. Epps followed him the whole way, and the two occasionally commented on a few things. Epps talked the most, adding a comment here and there to listen to later on his tape recorder. As they were walking to Sam's and Miles' shared room he paused, and grabbed Sam by the back of his shirt to stop him as well, and changed the tape.

He started it just as they were outside the two teen's room, and they both noticed the door was open just a crack when Miles voice suddenly shocked them both into stopping.

"_It won't fit in there, Barry! It's too big!_"

Both Epps and Sam turned to look at each other with wide eyes at the same time. That just sounded so wrong to them.

Barricade's answering grunt came through the door. "_Just one hard shove, and it'll be in._"

"_I'm telling you your part is too big! It won't fit in my hole!_"

Sam was biting his lip, torn between thinking extremely bad thoughts, and trying to convince himself that they were doing something completely innocent. Epps looked like a child on Christmas morning who was about to open their presents. He put the tape recorder closer to the crack in the door.

Then they heard Barricade let loose a frustrated growl, followed by Miles groaning.

"_Owww._" Miles whined.

"_Sorry, princess. Just hold still._"

By this point Sam looked an amazing mixture between horrified and amused. Epps still just looked gleeful. Both the teen and the Sergeant leaned closer towards the door when they didn't hear anything but shifting for a moment. Neither noticed Will and Graham walking in the barracks until the two were already on them.

"Epps, you're making Ironhide paranoid again. He thinks you're talking about him. Wolf whistle at him again and I'll kick your ass." Will narrowed his eyes at them. He was the head of he NEST base, and he felt that everyone should be given their privacy. There were rules he had to enforce about it, with so many people living in such close quarters. Even if he started off with something that wasn't a reprimand. He could be curious, too.

When Sam turned around and hissed at him to shut up, he quickly decided that the rules be damned and backed down. Graham was already beside Sam, trying to hear whatever had him and Epps so enthralled.

"_Ohhh, Barry, you just need to..._" Miles moaned in frustration. "_Almost, just a bit more...!_"

Barricade growled, "_I know, just shut up already._"

Suddenly there was a fight over who got the area closest towards the door, though the whole thing was rather difficult in an attempt to remain silent and unnoticed by the two occupants within the room. Epps ended up in front, holding Epps Jr. protectively, and the rest piled in close to him, practically on top of him as they all leaned even closer towards the door. Epps was in front, then Sam and Graham were leaning against his back, peering over his shoulders. Will was directly behind them, leaning up against the two to hear better.

"_I just need to angle it a bit, and then push a bit harder..._"

"_Wha- Oh, yes! That's it! Harder, Barry!_"

None of the four eavesdroppers saw or heard Bumblebee walk in. Bumblebee usually made his holoform make sound, but when he noticed how the four were positioned he quickly changed his holoform into a hologram so it wouldn't make any sound, but would keep the same look. He made it to directly behind the four before switching back to the holoform so he could be felt again. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, about to say something before he was cut off by Miles' voice drifting out of the bedroom.

"_There! Oh, yes, there! Yes, yes, yes!_" His cry was accompanied by Barricade groaning with satisfaction.

The now five eavesdroppers were so quiet a needle could have been heard hitting the ground all the way in Ratchet's medbay. The only noises came from inside the room, and for a few seconds that was only shuffling, signaling that one or both of the occupants of the room were moving around.

"_Told you you'd enjoy it._" Barricade said, sounding all too smug.

"Holy frag!" Bumblebee whispered, startling Will into trying to turn around.

This however caused all four of the humans to tumble into Miles' and Sam's room as the door flew open from their combined weight.

Miles looked shocked, and Barricade glared at the four on the ground, and Bumblebee, who had remained up right and just outside the room.

"What in the pit are you five glitches doing?" Barricade growled.

Will rolled off of Graham, and both Graham and Sam rolled off of Epps. Epps groaned, before jumping up and pointing a finger at both Barricade and Miles.

"The better question is, what were you two doing, hmm?" It took a second, but Epps eventually noticed they both had clothes on. "Wait, you both have clothes on..."

"Uh..." Miles looked at Epps like he was crazy, "Duh. Who'd put a bed together naked?"

Epps gaped, while Sam chuckled nervously. "You guys were putting my bed together?"

Miles nodded.

"_Only_ putting my bed together, right?"

Miles now looked at Sam as if he was crazy, while Barricade just fixed on his patented scowl and glowered at all of them.

"What these gits are trying to say is, well, it sounded like you two were fragging!" Graham did not apparently do subtle very well.

It was Miles turn to gap, and the teen quickly sputtered out a defensive comment, though it was a weak one. "It did not!"

Barricade, for his own defense, just let his face go completely blank. Though anyone who knew how he acted in his holoform tended to realize that was his 'surprised face'.

Epps smirked, and waved Epps Jr. in the air, before hitting rewind, and then play.

"_It won't fit in there, Barry! It's too big!_"  
>"<em>Just one hard shove, and it'll be in.<em>"  
>"<em>I'm telling you your part is too big! It won't fit in my hole!<em>" Silence, then Miles groaning in pain. "_Owww._"  
>"<em>Sorry, princess. Just hold still.<em>"  
>Here there was a slight pause, and Will could be heard in the background, as well as Sam hissing at him to shut up.<br>"_Ohhh, Barry, you just need to..._" Miles moaning in frustration, "_Almost, just a bit more...!_"  
>Barricade growling, "<em>I know, just shut up already.<em>"  
>Shuffling in the background.<br>"_I just need to angle it a bit, and then push a bit harder..._"  
>"<em>Wha- Oh, yes! That's it! Harder, Barry!<em>"  
>"<em>There! Oh, yes, there! Yes, yes, yes!<em>" Miles cry, being accompanied by Barricade's groan of satisfaction.  
>Shuffling once more, though this time from Barricade and Miles.<br>Then Barricade's smug voice, "_Told you you'd enjoy it._"  
>The last thing that was heard on the tape before it was cut off was Bumblebee in the background, whispering. "<em>Holy frag!<em>"

Miles and Barricade listened, the young teen starting to blush and laugh at the same time.

"Okay, I admit that sounds amazingly like me and Barry were doing the dirty! But we were just putting Sam's bed together!" A pause. "And sounding extremely enthusiastic about it." Miles grinned sheepishly. The teen's face was just starting to return to normal. "Though, you gotta admit, it's Barry who sells that whole entire thing."

"The pit it is." Barricade snarled, then smirked. "Frankly, I think my favorite line was one of yours." His smirk widened, befor he did an imitation of Miles' voice, which sounded strinkingly similar to the real Miles. "Oh, yes! That's it! Harder, Barry!"

Miles groaned, his blush returning as the others started to laugh. "Oh, frag you!"

"Sorry, but we only just convinced them that's what we _weren't_ doing." Barricade drawled, still smirking smugly.

* * *

><p>That night found everyone eating in the cafeteria, minus Sam and Jazz, who had went missing not long before. Miles and Barricade sat in front of Miles' parents, Epps sat at the front of the table, and another had been pushed to join the original one. Graham and Fig sat there, as well as Will and Bumblebee. Most of the others, including the Cybertronians, were strewn across the room. Sam's parents were in there, as well as Trent, who had pulled up a chair between Will and Miles, the two sitting side by side at the tables conjoining area. Maggie, Glen, Mikaela and several other organic members of the NEST base were there. Optimus, Ratchet, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and even Prowl was in the room, though Prowl was being forced by Ratchet. Soundwave was talking with Optimus, and so far he had not programmed any of his creations with holoform's, and though they could all fit they tended to avoid a crowded place with humans. Only Ravage was there, and he was sitting under the table at Miles' feet, not feeling up to walking back and forth with his Creator and the Prime at the moment.<p>

Everything was going great until the intercom buzzed to life, and Jazz's voice drifted through.

"_Helloooooo NEST! This is yah favorite TIC, Jazz, and mah special lil' buddy, Sam, the defeater of mighteh Megatron! Sam?_"

Sam took over for the moment, "_It's another fine Saturday night here on Earth, and it's a good of a night as any to introduce one of the newest addition's: Jazz's Hot Spot! This broadcast brings you the latest gossip and juicy details of the going on's around base. If you would do the honors of introducing tonight's topic, Jazzy?_"

"_Why thank yah, Samual!_" Jazz's amusement could be heard even through the intercom. "_Tonight we bring you a piece collected from Epps Jr. An' for those of yah a bi' outta the loop, tha's Epps' tape recorder. The lil' fellow picked up a very interesting audio recording of some of the two more well known members of this base. I' involves our favorite Decepticon turned Neutral, and one of the craziest teens I have had the plahsure of meeting, Miles! Most of us ahready knew that those two were nigh near inseperable unless they had a fight, but the data collected from Epps Jr. migh' just clue us in to just why there fights are so explosive in the first place._" Here Jazz paused dramatically. "_Could these two be the first Cybertronian/human relationship in the historeh of evah? How great could the make up frag be between them! Listen and decide for yahselves!_"

By this point Graham, Epps, Will, Miles, Bumblebee, and Barricade had already caught on. The young teen's eyes had widened, and he sat frozen in his seat with his mouth hanging open. Elizabeth kept looking between her son and the Neutral Cybertronian. Bob just ignored the whole thing, figuring it was something stupid.

And then the audio recording turned on. If most of the eyes hadn't been on the table with Miles and Barricade were already, they had quickly changed that, and stared the two in shock.

The whole cafeteria was silent as the beginning of the recording began to play, until Bob began to choke. He had just been taken a drink of his beer when the recording had started to play, and had frozen in shock when it had. Belatedly he had swallowed, and managed to get the alcoholic beverage down the wrong way. The recording and his coughing were the only things heard.

Miles was sinking down in his seat, his face bright red in embarrassment as he avoided looking anyone in the eye, and especially avoided looking at his parents. The young teen suddenly found himself wishing that Shockwave had killed him.

When the recording ended half of the cafeteria remained in shocked silence, while the other half erupted into laughter, cheers, catcalls, jeers, and taunts.

Will stood up quickly, "It's not what you guys think! I know what it sounds like, but they were just putting Sam's bed together!"

"They were doing _something_ with a bed, alright!" An unidentified voice called from the background.

Barricade looked surprisingly horrified, which was mainly because he was sitting directly in front of Elizabeth. The mother looked ready to murder someone.

"_What did you do to my baby?_" Lizzy hissed, standing up and glaring down at Barricade.

"Mom!" Miles protested, "Nothing happened! Just calm down, okay?"

"Hey, hey, when you two gonna run off and elope, huh?" The same voice as before taunted, and Will silently swore he'd find whoever it was and beat the shit out of them, commanding officer be damned.

This prompted Bob to join his wife in standing up and glaring at Barricade.

Bumblebee called to the teen and Cybertronian from his spot at the table, "Uh, you know, running might be smart right about now. We'll get the 'rents calmed down."

And for once Barricade listened to the Autobot, picking Miles up and rushing out of the room with him. Of course this only added fuel to the fire, and the cafeteria erupted into chaos.

* * *

><p>"Okay..." Sam trailed off, looking down at the floor guiltily. "So maybe that wasn't the best way to get Miles back for the lap dance video..."<p>

Jazz stood beside the teen in his holoform, grinning sheepishly. Both were in Will's office. "Aw, Willeh, we din't know it'd turn ou' like that. It was just a bit of harmless fun!"

Both Will and Prowl were behind Will's desk, the human sitting in his seat and the SIC standing and giving a reprimanding look at the two in front of them.

"Yes, well, we still can not locate Miles or Barricade, or even reach them, because of your 'harmless fun'. On top of that, more than likely over half the organic members of NEST base now believe that the two are actually together in such a way." Prowl narrowed his eyes at the two.

Sam protested, "What's so wrong with that? So the two will get teased, big deal."

"Sam, did you ever think why we have the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy?" Will asked, sighing. "Men more than women tend to get angry over homosexuality, at least from what I've seen. Not only do we have a lot of men, but a lot of men who know how to kill. What if there are any homophobes? Barricade's referred to as a male here."

Both Jazz and Sam visibly deflated.

"Neither of you bothered to think of the possible drawbacks that this could have." Will continued, determined to make them feel as guilty as they should over the matter. "This would obviously affect Miles more than Barricade, because I doubt even the stupidest member here would go against Barricade, or against Miles with Barricade around."

The guilt tripping talk continued for awhile, and then the punishment was dealt out for both of them. The two took it without complaint.

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon of the next day, and everyone was eating lunch outside at the picnic tables. Everyone was silent when they saw Barricade drive in, and pull up near the picnic area. Miles got out, and walked towards the group, Barricade's holoform following him. Miles stopped in front of Epps.<p>

"Epps?"

"Yeah, Miles?"

"Give me your tape recorder."

Epps hesitated, before handing the small device over. Miles stuck it in his back pocket, grinning.

"Where the frag did you two go, and how in the pit could we not contact you?" This was Ratchet, coming to stand beside the two and cast a cursory glance over them to check for any ailments.

Miles smirked, and backed up to stand beside Barricade's holoform. He then put up one of his hands, and wiggled the fingers on it, mostly bringing attention to the small silver band on his ring finger. "Vegas. We got hitched."

Barricade looked at the teen with amusement, while the rest of the people and Cybertronians at the picnic area were stunned into silence.

Then Epps, Sideswipe, Jazz, Bumblebee, Optimus, Sam, Glen, Graham, Will, Maggie, and Trent began to snicker, and then to laugh.

Sam guffawed, "You did _not_!"

"You never knooow!" Miles sing-songed, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. The teen then proceeded to jog off, ignoring any questions, catcalls, or any other noises thrown his way. Barricade simply followed, not bothering to ellaborate either.

Once the laughter died down Epps realized Miles had never given him his tape recorder back.

"Epps Jr., _noooooo!_" He cried dramatically, flopping himself down on Maggie and pretending to sob.

* * *

><p>After that day Epps Jr., more commonly known as a tape recorder, was never seen again.<p>

Within a week Will passed a rule that banded tape recorder's from being used by humans unless they were actually needed, like in a meeting, or to remember something. Not to eavesdrop.


	34. Red Alert and the Nefarious Gnomes

**AN: South Park, Tweek and the underpants gnomes reference! Obviously the song sung is what they sing, only I alter it just a bit to fit.**

**Reviews: **Thanks to _Autobot Firekat, Noella50881, Fk306 animelover, Rockubyebaby, TransformerJunkie, KayNine0,_ and _Jacqueline _Walker for reviewing!  
><em><span>BrownEyedShamer:<span>_ No, I've never seen anything else with Miles and Barricade interacting the way I have them interacting in my stories. Which is sad, I love these two together, haha. Might be why I like writing it so much. If they did end up together I think it would balance out well. Miles wouldn't have a problem saying the L word, while Barricade would. Mech already had enough trouble saying it when it was just like haha!

_Edit: I really need to get a beta or start reading over these! I keep finding all these mistakessss. Ignore those, please, I just don't tend to bother to read my work!_

**Chapter 34**  
><em><strong>Red Alert and the nefarious Gnomes<strong>_  
><em><strong>AKA<strong>_  
><em><strong>Don't mess with Barry(and other assorted Decepticons) <strong>_

* * *

><p>Miles wasn't happy, not in the least. For once the Autobots had managed to keep it on the down low that one of them was coming in, and it had been announced to the whole NEST base just an hour before the mech was brought it. And due to the nature of this mech the humans were ordered to the human section of NEST so as not to set the mech off just yet.<p>

Naturally he and Sam had snuck away from Will when the older man wasn't looking, and had gone in search of why the humans were ordered to hide themselves. When they found Ironhide with Orion, they had used the sparkling against the large Weapons Specialist, and managed to get the information off of him.

The mech's name was Red Alert, and he was the Security Director of the Ark. He apparently had a glitch that would make him severely suspicious of many things, and the fact that they actually had Decepticons on the base didn't help at all.

After promising Ironhide that they would return to the human side of NEST, they split up and went off in search of the new arrival, both promising to contact the other when one found him.

And this was why Miles had come to find himself outside of what the human's had nicknamed the Security hub or Communications office, standing next to the door and actually using whatever was going on with him to listen in on the Cybertronian being spoken.

"_Yes, Autobot, I am fully aware that I have operational weapons and know how to use them. Thank you for pointing this out._" Barricade.

"_This won't do at all! He could attack all of us! What of the sparkling? Or the tiny organics?"_ A new voice, one Miles assumed to be Red Alert.

"_I, as the CMO, decided to give him back his operational weapons, Red Alert._" Ratchet. "_He was left defenseless during a Decepticon attack, and I figured we need all the help we can get if another one happens._"

Miles continued to listen in, texting Sam to get over to where he was quick. He frowned as what Red Alert was saying just got more and more preposturous, to the point where Ratchet told Prowl to comm Inferno to come back from his patrol early. Apparently Inferno was the only one who could actually calm Red Alert down before he actually full out glitched.

He was momentarily distracted by his phone going off, and reading the text message. During that time he couldn't understand what was being said, as he was too busy trying not to laugh. Sam had been caught by Will, and dragged back to the human side of the base.

He was startled when Barricade suddenly left the communications center, and stared down at him. He grinned sheepishly back up at the Neutral, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Don't suppose if I say I got lost you'll believe me?" Miles asked, putting on his best innocent face.

Barricade reached down, and swept Miles up in his servo, bringing the teen up closer towards his face. "I don't believe I need to answer that."

Miles was just about to whine, and pull off the 'I'm adorable, do what I want or deal with the bitching' face, when Prowl stuck his head out of the room, and raised an optic ridge.

"How am I not surprised?" The SIC asked dryly. "Barricade, bring him in here. Prime thinks its time Red Alert meets an organic.

Miles grinned triumphantly, and settled himself in a more comfortable position as Barricade vented lightly, and reentered the room. Whatever the teen had been suspecting would happen, it certainly wasn't being stolen from Barricade's grasp in less than a second, and then being intensely scrutinized by the new mech. Even less so to be turned this way and that, poked and prodded.

"Hey, yeah, just a little fleshy here. Stop the poking, please. We bite."

From the way Red Alert froze and Ratchet groaned, Miles guessed that was the wrong thing to say. He knew it for a fact when Red Alert started speaking in rapid fire Cybertronian, and trying to search Miles for any other weapons he might have.

To say the teen was relieved when Barricade took him back was an understatement, and he hoisted himself up on to Barricade's shoulder in the hopes of the threat of Barricade biting might make Red Alert stay away.

The resulting tirade had Miles openly gaping at the paranoid SD. It was a bit funny when Red Alert brought Miles into questioning, going through everything from secretely working with Starscream, to being a Witch Doctor. Miles still wasn't sure what Red Alert had been searching for to find that on the internet. What shocked him was all the stuff the new mech said against Barricade.

In the back of his mind, where he kept that stupid sensible voice called his concious, it was saying that Red Alert was only being logical in his wariness as the SD. The rest of his mind, however, was less then pleased. Especially when Ratchet caved and agreed to take Barricade's weapons away again until Red Alert himself approved, or Prime overrided the paranoid's mech decision after a certain amount of time. It was made even worse when Barricade didn't even bother fighting over the matter.

In a matter of minutes Barricade was reduced to restricted movement in the base, and no weapons. Soundwave and the cassettes had even less movement than he did.

Prowl must have seen the look on Miles' face, because the SIC grabbed the teen and placed him securely on his own shoulder. Then proceeded to whisper harshly, "Do not do anything to Red Alert, Miles."

"Oh, Prowl, I won't do _anything_ to Red Alert. Scout's honor." Miles promised, giving Prowl his best innocent look.

After all, he'd only be doing certain things to Red Alert, and even those Miles would try to make sure wouldn't be connected to him personally. At least at first. No mech would get away with messing with his Barry. And the other Decepticons on base.

* * *

><p>"I think you're being too paranoid, big Red." Miles said, as Red Alert eyed him warily.<p>

Red Alert made a sound like clearing his throat, "Yes, perhaps." He allowed that much, before narrowing his optics. "Then again it could all be a plot to get us to trust him before he turns on us."

"Ugh." Miles groaned. "Think of it this way, Bumblebee's an even match for Barricade. Ironhide could probably end up winning. Optimus could kick his aft hands down. How would you feel if you were stripped of your weapons around people that you weren't guranteed would leave you alone? And now you can't even go everywhere you want to."

"I am not in that position, nor would I be. As for how Barricade feels, I do not care. It is the safety of the Autobots that I work for, not the emotions of a glitched Decepticon."

If Red Alert had known Miles better, he might have noticed the warning scowl, before it was replaced with another expression. As it was, the SD just passed it off as Barricade being Miles' guardian and therefore the teen caring about how the Neutral feels.

* * *

><p>The teen entered the room slightly wary, and once he did he nearly walked right back out as he stared with a purely gobsmacked expression. Sideswipe sat in all his bipedal glory on a chair, which in itself wasn't unusual, but on his lap, curled up like a cat and being petted, was Fig. The two stared at him from beihind the desk, and Miles open and closed his mouth several times, doing his best imitation of a fish.<p>

After a moment, Sideswipe began to laugh. "Told you his reaction would be worth embarrassing yourself."

"You better have taken a picture." Fig grumbled in reply, quickly righting himself and climbing out of the yellow twin's lap.

Miles blinked a few times, before grinning.

"Y'know, I think I saw that in Rugrats once."

Sideswipe huffed, "I was aiming for the Godfather. I think."

"Right." Miles snorted, waving at Fig as the soldier left the room. "Anyway, I've come for your... assistance."

Sideswipe leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, clasped his servos together, and leaned his chin on his servos. He waited for Miles to continue.

"I've been thinking that our little SD reminds me of someone from South Park." Miles grinned.

"Tweek?" And Sideswipe smirked. Miles was happy, it looked like he wouldn't need to explain his idea after all.

* * *

><p>Red Alert stared at the screen before him. The time showed 0230. Then he slowly shuttered and unshuttered his optics several times. When the image didn't go away, he turned up the sound.<p>

"_Time to go to work, work all day, search for datapads, hey! We won't stop until we have datapads! Yum yum yummy yum yay! Time to go to work, work all night, search for datapads, hey! We won't stop until we have datapads! Yum yum yummy yum yay!_"

A quick internet search helpfully informed him as to what the tiny creatures were. _Gnomes_. Said Gnomes had not only broken into the NEST base, but were currently marching in two strait lines. One line was flowing into Prowl, the Second in Command's office, and the other line was flowing out. Each of the gnomes in the out line were carrying datapads.

Oh Primus. They were after the datapads.

And nefariously singing.

* * *

><p>"Red Alert, for the last time there is no such thing as a gnome. Especially ones that steal datapads, for Primus' sake. Listen to yourself!" Ratchet scowled, waving a wrench around in the air in a threatening manner.<p>

"But..." Red Alert protested weakly. Had it all been a bad recharge cycle?

That was when Prowl stuck his head in the room, growling and doorwings in a sharp 'V' formation. "Ratchet, where's Sideswipe?"

"What now?"

"I went into my office this morning and all my datapads were gone." At Red Alert's gasp Prowl paused. Ratchet looked down at Red Alert disbelievingly. "Yes, I know, Red. I immediately went and checked the cameras. At 0230 Sideswipe is seen sneaking into my room and making several trips to get them out."

Ratchet snorted, "See, Red? Just a bad recharge cycle. Nothing's wrong with you."

"But the gnomes..." Red Alert whimpered.

* * *

><p>Red Alert tried desperately not to glitch. It was the same time as before. 0230. Just to be safe, he shuttered and unshuttered his optics slowly.<p>

"_Time to go to work, work all day, search for little Decepticons, hey! We won't stop until we have Decepticons! Yum yum yummy yum yay! Time to go to work, work all night, search for little Decepticons, hey! We won't stop until we have Decepticons! Yum yum yummy yum yay!_"

This time the procession of gnomes were carrying the recharging forms of Ravage, Buzzsaw, Laserbeak, and Ratbat from Soundwave's quarters. Red Alert checked, and saw that Sondwave was in the human rec-room with Barricade, Miles, Sideswipe, and Sam. Sam and Sideswipe were currently facing each other at Mario Kart, and Miles was talking animatedly to both Soundwave and Barricade.

The next chorus of the nefariously sung song caused Red Alert to violently twitch. He reached for the alarm button, but just before he could hit it the world went black.

* * *

><p>"Soundwave, Soundwave!" Red Alert went racing down the halls after he had woken back up. Reaching the human side of NEST he quickly activated his holoform, and continued running. "Your cassettes! The Gnomes have them!"<p>

He had reached the human rec-room by now, and it's occupants all turned to stare at him. Soundwave was the first to speak.

"Cassettes: In room. Status: Recharging."

Sideswipe stood up from his spot on the floor next to Sam, walking over to Red Alert slowly as the SD gaped at Soundwave and sputtered. "It's okay, Red. Let's take you down to Ratchet, alright?"

"But... The Gnomes... singing... cassettes..."

Sideswipe gripped Red Alert's holoform's shoulders firmly and steered him out of the room.

"That was weird." Sam said, watching their retreating forms.

Miles nodded his head, trying to hide his slight smirk. The only one to notice it was Soundwave, and he decided to question Ravage and Ratbat later. Ratbat especially couldn't normally keep something from his creator.

* * *

><p>After his last glitch, Ratchet had confined Red Alert to the medbay for a week. When it passed with no more Gnome incidents, he had let the disgruntled SD free. Now Red Alert was walking through the halls, stopping when he heard the Gnome's song being hummed. Startled, he looked for the source, and found it in the form of Sam Witwicky.<p>

"Aha!" He picked up the young teen faster than he could blink, rushing off to Prowl's office with him.

"What the frag? Red Alert, put me down!" Sam struggled, yelling at the SD with no luck.

Red Alert stormed into Prowl's office, and dropped Sam down on the desk. "He's working with the gnomes! He was humming their song!"

Sam gaped up at Red Alert, "I was humming an old minor's song!"

Prowl looked between the two, venting softly.

"Sam, what are the lyrics?"

"Uh.. lemme think..." Sam trailed off, thinking of them. Then he sang it softly, "Time to go to work, work all day, mine for coal, hey! We won't stop until it's time for lunch! Yum yum yummy yum yay! Time to go to work, work all night, mine for coal, hey! We won't stop until it's time for dinner! Yum yum yummy yum yay!"

"That is prepostorous! Prowl, he's lying to us!"

* * *

><p>Red Alert fumed silently, pacing the length of his room. Prowl had dismissed his claims of Sam being in cohorts with the gnomes, but Red Alert knew better. He now made sure to have a camera trained on Sam at all times.<p>

No one believed him. Well then, he'd just have to catch one of the gnomes and prove that NEST had a gnome infestastion. Then they'd all see.

* * *

><p>It turns out that catching a gnome was a lot harder than Red Alert anticipated. He almost held a tiny amount of respect for the tricky little pit spawns. But that wouldn't mean he'd allow them to stay on his NEST base.<p>

Red Alert was beginning to think that something was either seriously wrong with him, or that the tiny creatures were even better than Jazz and Ravage. He was leaning towards the theory that the tiny creatures were even better than two of Cybertron's best spys. He had run several self diagnostics, and Ratchet had too. Nothing had come up.

Datapads, the Cassettes, books, Wheeljacks collection of arachnids, zylophones, all the yellow paint, the X-men movies and other assorted X-men related items, all of Ratbat's toy collection of wombats, Jazz's venacular, the urinals, and all of the turnips. The human males had been less than pleased to find all the urinals gone, Ratbat was devastated, as was Sunstreaker. And Red Alert was still uncertain how the gnomes had taken Jazz's venacular, but the saboteur was now speaking like everyone else. The only order he could make of it was that the gnomes were going backwards in the alphabet starting from D. And that they always appeared at 0230.

Tonight would be S, and he would be ready for them. He had everything gathered, he just needed to know where.

* * *

><p>Red Alert was watching the screens intently. It was almost time, but where were the gnomes? Just then a note taped to the wall caught his eye. How hadn't he noticed it before? He picked it off and read it.<p>

_You might be working for your own safety soon, Red Alert._

He heard a noise outside the door and froze. It was at this point that he realized something. S. His title started with s.

"_Time to go to work, work all day, search for Security Director's, hey! We won't stop until we have SD's! Yum yum yummy yum yay! Time to go to work, work all night, search for Security Director's, hey! We won't stop until we have SD's! Yum yum yummy yum yay!_"

Slowly he turned around, just as the door slid open and the first gnome entered.

* * *

><p>The base wide alert had everyone, those who weren't already awake anyway, wide awake and, well, alert.<p>

Prowl, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker quickly went to the human section of the base and met some of the tiny organics outside of the barracks. Epps, Will, Fig, and Graham were already armed and ready. Miles and Sam were just standing there.

None of them expected to see Red Alert come racing up in his alt mode, transform into his bipedal form, and then go running screaming something about gnomes and in between that he was apologizing profusely. They all watched with wide eyes as the mech slammed into a wall, then fell to the ground, sparks flying from his head.

Sideswipe and Miles looked at eachother with wide eyes and wide optics. Then the two began to laugh.

Prowl narrowed his optics at the both of them, "Brig. Now."

* * *

><p>The next morning everyone pretty much knew the whole story. It helped that a video was made by Sideswipe, and sent to every mech and every computer. The only thing he didn't say was what human had the idea.<p>

Of course Sam, Will, Epps, Fig, and Graham all knew this. So did Bumblebee. When Barricade came in, they found out that he apparently did not know just yet.

"Where's the fleshling?" The Neutral asked, sitting in between Bumblebee and Sam. He wasn't _worried_, it was just odd that the teen wasn't in any of his usual spots, and hadn't bothered to seek him out yet.

Bumblebee raised an eyebrow while Sam snorted, "The Autobot brig."

"Why?"

"He apparently had something against big Red." Sam grinned, raising his cup of coffee as if to toast the prank. "I love Miles, I really do. Red screamed something about gnomes and was apologizing about his treatment of the Decepticons and Neutral on base in the same breath."

Barricade blinked a few times, and then had to fight to try to hide a smirk. He wasn't the only one.

* * *

><p>"I think purple would really bring out the walls of this place." Miles commented idly while laying on Sideswipe's chest plates, just over his spark. As the brig was basically in the basement of NEST, though this basement was located several miles under ground, it was a bit cold.<p>

Sideswipe nodded, so Miles continued. "We should suggest that to Prowl when he comes back. How long will that be, anyway?"

"Well, normally he isn't against skipping rations for a mech, but humans do need to actually eat more and keep up their energy. So I'd say about lunch time."

"Ugh." Miles whined, sitting up and giving a gentle tug at the metal circling his wrist. The chain rattled, but didn't give. "Did he have to cuff me to you?"

"Well, it's long enough to be comfortable. My ped is chained to the berth, so that even if I reach you can't just slip through the bars." Sideswipe smirked, poking the teen. "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time, little buddy."

Miles huffed, and swatted the offending digit away, before resuming his original position on Sideswipe's chest, and glaring moodily at the ceiling.

It was silent for a few minutes, before Sideswipe spoke up again.

"Blue."

Miles cursed softly, "Frag, you're right. Blue would be way better."


	35. Hugs and Surprises, part 1

**AN: So I looked up where the Fallen was hanging out. Tfwiki says on one of Saturn's moons, on the Nemesis. Okaaay, that's what I'm going with. So there. I also watched the movie scene, and it appears that tfwiki is right. At least from what you can get from the scene. x_x**

_Rant section: I had typed up a part with the Fallen and went to save and stupid ff GLITCHED so I lost it. _

**Sidenote: This is already kind of long, so I'll just seperate the chapter in two parts. I want to upload already, and I haven't gotten the next part worked out just yet anyway.**

**So you get a cliff hanger! And I might respond to reviews next CH. A bit under the weather, but if I end up staying home tomorrow just means more time to write!**

_**Chapter 35, part 1  
><strong>__**Hugs and Surprises**_

* * *

><p>Barricade stared at Bumblebee, "Why are you playing that?"<p>

They were in the rec-room, as was normal by now, waiting on their Charge's to get out of school as they watched Epps and Sideswipe play Mortal Combat. They were sitting on the couch, two seats apart from each other in preparation for the two teen's arrival. Sideswipe had nicknamed the seating position as the Guardian sandwhich, because no matter where they were, as long as there was no fighting, the four would usually sit together. Barricade on one end, with Miles next to him, and Sam beside him, with Bumblebee taking up the other end. And Bumblebee was playing the Jaws' theme.

"It's appropriate." Bumblebee replied, amusement evident on his holoform's face.

Barricade could almost see where this was going.

"Pertaining to what life form?"

"Human, of course." The tempo getting faster.

"Ah."

And just as the tempo reached its' peak, Miles sneaked up behind the couch and cried, "HUG ATTA-AAAH!"

Barricade was faster than him, pulling the teen on to the couch, where he would have ended up anyway, but saving himself from the hug.

Miles stared up at the ceiling from his new position in surprise for a moment, and Sam came over, snickering at his friend.

"Maggie got him started on hug attacking people. They've both been doing it to any holoforms and soldiers they could find. Or the Cassettes, since they're small enough."

"And I'll get you, too, Barry!" Miles grinned, manuevering himself into an upright position. "You so owe me hugs!"

"Keep telling yourself that, fleshling." The ex-con drawled.

"Hey now, none of that!" Epps grinned. "We already had an earful of you two earlier." Almost as an after thought, he added. "I still want Epps Jr. back, M."

"No fragging way." The teen grinned.

"You know, I'm surprised anyone believed that. He would have been much louder if I actually 'rewarded' him with that." Barricade said, smirking.

A short pause, followed by laughter.

"Oh no, Miles!" Sideswipe snickered, "He sounds almost as smug as Sunny! Better watch out!"

* * *

><p>Miles listened as Bumblebee and Barricade went back and forth, fighting over something the teen had long ago lost track of. Sam was sitting on the floor, playing Mortal Combat with Epps, which meant that Miles was sitting in between the two Guardians as they argued.<p>

"Fourty-two." He supplied helpfully.

This made Bumblebee pause in his tracks, the Autobot scout having just been about to say something. It did not, however, give Barricade any pause at all, it only changed who he was saying the statement towards.

"You're stupid." The Neutral replied blandly.

Bumblebee stared at the teen in surprise, "No, actually, he's right."

"I am? Uh, yeah, I am! Take that Barry!" Sam snorted from his spot on the floor as Miles said this, causing Miles to kick his friend lightly in the back. "What am I right about?"

"What the frag do you mean, what are you right about? Didn't you just answer the question already?" Barricade growled.

"You're right. I answered _the_ question, but it being the answer to that question is just a complete coincidence!"

"Improbable." Sam cut in, causing Miles to grin and nod.

"Well I'm completely lost." Epps said, looking between all of them, and taking the opportunity to K.O. Sam while he wasn't paying attention.

"The question me and Barricade were fighting over was how long the Energon supply would last us here on Earth with a certain criteria. This while using oil as an alternative and spacing out Energon usage. And several other factors that we wouldn't be able to rely on in reality." Bumblebee informed, frowning ever so slightly. The young Autobot scout liked many things, but one thing he did not like was to be confused. "And there would be a years at the end of that. Though this was all just what if's, as the actual time will be much shorter. I do not know what question he was answering, though."

"The question to everything." Miles grinned. "I am a firm believer in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. See how far it's gotten me? I was right. The answer was fourty-two."

Barricade and Bumblebee both took a moment to search for just what the young teen was talking about.

Barricade snorted, "You would enjoy a book like that."

Miles was silent for a moment, before pouting just a little as Epps began to laugh. "I can't tell if that's insulting me or the book."

"The answer is fourty-two." Barricade replied, smirking.

Miles stuck his tongue out at the ex-con.

"What do you mean the actual time will be much shorter?" Epps asked, snickering when Sam realized he had just lost.

Bumblebee hesitated, debating whether or not he should actually talk about it. In that moment of hesitation all eyes turned towards him expectantly, silently prompting him to do so. He cursed himself when he caught Sam's eye and felt like he had to.

"Well, that was under the assumption that each mech here could survive fairly well on your planet's fuel resources alone. Look like a car, feed like one." A pause. "Ratchet and Wheeljack both doubt this, and Barricade's proof. It slowed down his internal repair system, made it harder to repair himself, to the point it was easier to ask an organic to do it when one was available. This being Miles. And that was after only a few months usage of it. Not to mention the fact that Orion needs a few special things in his Energon, which we're almost completely out of. If his original creator's were here there wouldn't be a problem, he could just take energon from them. However, they are not. That's why Optimus, Wheeljack, Trailbreaker, Ironhide, Ratchet, and several others have been so busy lately. They're trying to create something strong enough that will let us communicate with the base on Cybertron. If nothing unexpected has happened, then we know their base has some of the material needed. Until then we have enough left for about a month."

Sam frowned, "And what would happen if we gave him regular Energon?"

"He'd be able to survive off of it for awhile, but eventually his systems would start to reject it."

Silence. The three humans and Bumblebee tried to think of something else to say. Barricade just didn't bother.

"Elizabeth and Judy are coming tonight. Don't let them know that." Epps said gravely, but it wasn't needed. That much was already agreed upon.

* * *

><p>"I think Bumblebee's getting too relaxed." Miles commented with a grin to his fellow humans. He, Sam, Epps, and Will had snuck off into Sam's and Miles' room to talk alone for a bit. "I mean, telling us that when we got those freaky powers? Sorry Sam, but I think you got the one with less processor power."<p>

"At least mine appreciates feelings and can tell me mushy things if the situation calls for it. And he doesn't mind hugs, giving or receiving." Sam sniffed in fake hurt.

Miles thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "I can live without that."

Epps snickered, and Will rolled his eyes.

"We're here for a reason, boys, so shut up. Now, you three will be doing this." Will said sternly, though there was a small grin on his face.

"Why just us?" Sam asked.

"I can explain this one, Willy." Epps grinned. "If we're missing, they'll just think we're doing something childish. If Will's with us that means they'll probably look for us sooner."

Sam and Miles nodded. Once Will left they all agreed to sit apart from each other, so concentrating would be easier. Miles sat on his own bed, Sam sat on his, and Epps sat on the floor in between the two beds, that way he could reach either teens quickly if he wanted to.

An hour passed with nothing happening. Sam was just about to suggest giving up, when Epps fell into the nothing, pulling the two teens in along with him.

* * *

><p>When asked later what happened up until the point of recognizing that they were floating like ghosts in front of Bluestreak, none would be able to recall much about it. Just the fact that they were moving, and that this time they all felt individual, but still connected. And that they couldn't tell if they were speaking English or Cybertronian, but they could be understood.<p>

At that moment they were staring at an extremely surprised Bluestreak. The young door-winger shuttered and unshuttered his optics, and then tilted his head to the side. For once he was struck speechless, stuck just staring at the slightly there organics he could make out where he had been once staring at a wall. They weren't solid, but they didn't appear like something could pass through them either.

Miles was the first to speak. "Optimus Prime." He said simply, figuring that if it had worked on Blaster then it would work on the mystery mech, as he was wearing the Autobot insignia.

"Optimus sent you?" Bluestreak asked. "Well, is sent really the right word? Are you here, because I really have this feeling that I can feel you. Like this time when I was with Tracks visiting this dead world and I thought I could sense the beings that had lived there, but when I got back I was told I had just had some bad Energon. Did I have bad Energon again? It never said there was an incoming transmission, much less from Optimus! Or did I just not notice it? Oh, are you guys a secret? And what exactly are you guys, anyway?"

"You must be Bluestreak." Epps said, grinning. "And boss bot didn't send us, so much as that we sent ourselves. And as for us being here... Well, we're here and somewhere else."

"You know about me? Someone's been talking about me? Who? I hope they haven't been saying anything bad!" Bluestreak's doorwings fluttered nervously.

"Prowl, mostly. He misses you." Sam replied, laughing at the way Bluestreak's face lit up.

"As for what we are, we're humans. The inhabitants of Earth, where Optimus and the original All spark crew, and several others, have gathered." Epps explained. "Megatron was defeated, but in the process the All spark was destroyed. We also have some converters to the Autobot side from the Decepticons."

Bluestreak gasped, "Who?"

"Barry!" Miles said happily. "He's completely Neutral now. Then there's Soundwave, Ravage, Ratbat, Buzzsaw, and Laserbeak."

"When you say Barry, do you mean Barricade?" Bluestreak looked at the organics with something akin to awe now. "He actually lets you call him that?"

"Well..." Sam started, snickering. "I wouldn't say let. Miles here is pretty much the only one who does it without being snapped at. Cade's his Guardian, too."

Bluestreak gaped as the three humans continued to fill him in. They mentioned Orion and the need for those materials, as well as several other things.

When he asked where Earth was, they had no idea how to answer, and spent awhile searching for it with the young sniper just as Tracks came in and stared at the four in shock.

Then the explanation began all over again.

* * *

><p>Bumblebee watched as Judy and Elizabeth walked in, their husbands following not far behind them. He tried not to laugh as he saw what Ron and Bob were carrying. Ron had a giant stuffed bumblebee, and Bob had a giant stuffed police bear.<p>

Bumblebee grinned, "Hey Elizabeth, Judy. Get those for Sam and Miles?"

"Of course! The bee I've actually had for awhile, but we found the bear online and just couldn't resist." Judy smiled, taking the bumblebee from Ron. "Now it's like they can have tiny, to you, but giant to them, mascots for their Guardians. We figured they could at least shove them in the closest or under the bed if they didn't want to sleep with them."

Elizabeth took the bear dressed up in a cute little police uniform and held it out towards Barricade's face. She smiled sweetly.

"Meet what will probably be Barry the II. Try not to get _too_ jealous."

Bumblebee couldn't help but snicker at Barricade's expression at that. Shock, anger, but the ex-con knew better than to growl or snarl at this particular human. He poked the ex-con in the side.

"Guess he'll get to hug a Barry, after all. Maybe he'll replace you." The Autobot Scout teased.

Barricade had no problem with growling at him.

Elizabeth smirked, "Now, where are our babies?"

"Haven't seen them since this afternoon. Will probably knows, I think he's covering for a prank." Bumblebee replied, starting to walk to where he knew the Captain to be.

* * *

><p>Will looked behind him at the two human mothers and the two Cybertronians, who were currently using their holoform. Ron and Bob had left for the cafeteria, seeing as Ratchet was busy and wouldn't know they snagged a beer. He looked back at the door to Sam's and Miles' room. He really didn't want to open it.<p>

And he never got the chance. Bumblebee could tell the Captain was more tense than usual, and had swept past him, opening the door in his stead, and entering.

They all looked like they were sleeping. Sam was slumped against the wall that his bed sat against, legs sprawled out in front of him. Epps was still on the floor, back leaning against the night stand that sat in between the two beds. Miles was the only one of the three that was actually laying down. Will had enough of a mind to usher the two mom's out.

Bumblebee growled this time, surprising Will as he was closing and locking the door, and even Barricade. He then went to shake Epps roughly.

"I really don't think that's a good idea..." Will protested lightly, frowning when Bumblebee just ignored him.

Bumblebee was pleasantly surprised when Epps actually came back to reality with a start. Up until the Sergeant spoke.

"Oops."

Will groaned, "Oops what?"

"I lost them."

Silence for a moment.

Barricade glared, "What the frag do you mean you _lost_ them?"

"Well, Bumblebee shook me, and I was starting to come back, and they were with me, but then Sam saw something!" Epps said in a rush. "The only thing I got was 'Ohhhh, what's this?' and then Miles was following after Sam and I lost them. This time was different, and we were more... dumbed down?...in certain parts of it."

* * *

><p>"Shit, Sam! You lost Epps!"<p>

"What do you mean, I lost Epps? How could we lose Epps?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure Epps was going back to our bodies, and then you were like 'Ohhhh, what's this?' and I followed you!"

"Well... now I know what it is that caught my interest! This is the place where I was getting the feeling from!"

Silence. Both could feel themselves become more aware, like Epps' absence loosened the hold of, what they assumed to be, the power of the Allspark on them. In all cases before, minus talking to Bluestreak where the power had backed down a bit, it was a force surrounding them, different, but a part of them at the same time. It was almost frightening how alone this made them feel, even when they could still feel each other so clearly.

"Sam, what _is_ this?"

"I don't know."

"And the feeling?"

"This way." And Sam started to move. Or float. Neither of them were actually sure what to call it, but it was just like walking. There wasn't much of a concious thought to it. Their bodies, or spirits, or whatever it was, just obeyed.

The two teens looked around at where they were currently at. Miles was nervous; freaky alien shit on top of more freaky alien shit just didn't seem like the best combination to him. It was dark, and mist rose from the ground. It was wet, but Miles couldn't tell exactly how untill they came upon several large blue pods.

Sam moved closer, trying to peer inside. He gasped, "I think those are sparklings!"

* * *

><p>The room was completely silent, Ratchet checking on the two teens. Optimus and Ironhide had come in, and Bumblebee, Barricade, Epps, and Will had stayed. Wheeljack had taken to distracting the two mother's, and the father's were kept away so they wouldn't find out yet.<p>

Almost like clockwork, both teens would cease breathing together. Then either Sam or Miles would start again, breathing deeply, as if for both of them. Then the other would join his friend, and their breathing would even out and synchronize. Then it would repeat, and whoever had started breathing first would be the one left to catch up to his friend. So if they both stopped, and Miles started, then Sam caught up and they evened out, the next time it would be Sam starting, and Miles catching up until they evened out.

Will was pacing back and forth, Epps' watching his long time friend and commanding officer with worried eyes. Both Barricade and Bumblebee were in almost identical positions; stationed as close to the beds that their charge's were on as possible, without being in the way of Ratchet. However, Bumblebee was also near the others, while Barricade wasn't. Ironhide and Optimus stood side by side, near the two soldiers and Bumblebee.

"This didn't happen before, correct? Do either of you have any idea why it is now?" Optimus asked, watching his CMO's holoform as it toiled away over the teens.

"No!" Will hissed, "We didn't even think it would work this time. We have no idea what any of this stupid freaky alien shit is, how it works, why it works, or what will happen next! We just go with the flow, because hey, we're stuck with it anyway, and it's one of the few ways we can actually help you guys! We just wanted to contact that one base and get Orion what he needed!"

Epps put a hand on Will's shoulder, shaking his head. He could almost guess that his friend would have more to say, and would if given the opportunity, but knew it wouldn't be for the best.

"We did make it. Talked to Bluestreak, and then Tracks." Epps smiled weakly, "Took us forever to find Earth, funnily enough. Blue said he's gonna be coming with the supplies. I don't know about anyone else. And if earlier is anything to go by, I think we should fear that for when Miles is back to normal. He could get Blue going on a streak ten miles wide, especially when he mentioned 'Cade owing him a hug."

* * *

><p>"Yes, my liege. I sense the Allspark energy as well. But how?" Starscream asked, coming to a stop in front of the throne of the Fallen, one of the first great Primes of Cybertron.<p>

Both teens froze when they heard the voice, and if they would have been breathing in their current forms even that would have stopped. Sam recognized the voice, but Miles had no idea who it was.

An ancient voice answered the seeker, "You have much to learn. The cube is merely a vessel. It's power, it's knowledge, can not be destroyed. Merely... transformed. Find it's new container, and capture it, Starscream. Megatron must be brought back if I am to rise again."

"As you decree, my liege." Starscream bowed low to the ground, before rising once more and stalking off.

Well that was the very epitome of sounding _not fragging good_. The two teens stared at each other with wide eyes, Epps' and Will's absence suddenly becoming a whole lot more noticable.

"Dude, we need to get back. Like five minutes ago." Miles whispered, Sam nodding.

But how?


	36. Hugs and Surprises, part 2

**AN: Okay so, this is the second part. I'm not going to answer reviews for ch.34 or the first part of the Hugs and Surprises. I just feel too bleck. So sorry, and thanks to all who reviewed!**

* * *

><p>Though it was the wrong thing to do, the two teens had frozen once more, staring ahead of them with mouths hanging open. A planet they recognized loomed ahead of them, but it wasn't Earth. It was much, much larger than their planet, and much farther away from the sun.<p>

"Sam! That's Saturn!"

Sam just continued to gap. He couldn't believe his eyes, much less the situation they were actually in. Stuck on some floating piece of space rock with Starscream and some other guy who Starscream appeared to answer to, and they got to see the beautiful sight of Saturn. It was like Primus was taunting them. _Hey, you get to run for your lives, but here's a nice view to make up for it._

Sam decided he was going to tell Optimus that he should have a long talk to Primus the next chance he got. However that might work out. And then Miles was stepping into his line of sight.

"I am so going to kick your ass when we get back!" His best friend growled, and Sam had a humorous moment of thinking where it reminded him of Barricade, and that maybe it wasn't only the teen having an affect on the ex-con, but the ex-con having an affect on Miles, as well.

Miles glared at Sam, cluing him in on the fact that he could feel whatever Sam was feeling. Sam grinned sheepishly. "Well, back inside? Don't think we can walk to Kansas from here..."

Just then they heard thrusters engaging, and the sound of something flying over head quickly. They barely had time to make eye contact before Starscream was landing a few yards away from them.

"Come here, boy!" The seeker hissed angrily, stalking towards them. "And bring your pathetic little organic friend with you."

Sam was screaming and running as the SIC of the Decepticon army reached for him, but he wasn't fast enough.

* * *

><p>Ratchet had given up, calling off Will and Epps. The teens had just ceased breathing completely, their old pattern having finally ended. Out of everyone in the room he had picked the two soldiers to perform CPR, as they were less likely to forget their own strength in this situation, mainly because they didn't have to worry about it like the Cybertronians did.<p>

"There has to be something you can do!" Bumblebee, someone the med-bot had a hand in helping to raise. "It wants them to live! It's keeping their bodies preserved, you just have to get them to breathe!"

Ratchet looked at the young scout sadly, and then to Barricade. Both were surprisingly young to have been through a war, the ex-con just slightly older than Bumblebee. It looked like the ex-con wasn't sure how to react, or even how to feel, in this situation. The CMO couldn't help but wonder how different Barricade would have been if he had never spent time with Decepticons.

Earth had given them a peaceful time after the defeat of Megatron, for the most part. Ratchet actually had spare time on his hands for once, and both Prowl and Optimus would actually take breaks. Ratchet had seen how well Sam and Bumblebee acted together, and how much good it was doing Bumblebee. It helped to restore the innocence and playfullness that the war had nearly stolen away, and everyone was happy to see that. At some points Ratchet thought that Bumblebee's hard won innocence was some of the only things that helped to keep them going when it was just Optimus, Ironhide, Jazz, Ratchet, and the young scout.

Then Miles and Barricade had come to base, surprising all of them. What surprised Ratchet more was when he worked on Barricade, and found out just how young he really was. Just a bit older than Bumblebee, and he could remember the now ex-con with the Decepticons for as long as he'd known him.

And there too, it appeared like a human was helping to heal whatever hurt the spark might have went through. Only it was so much more surprising that it was with a Decepticon, but Sam excepted it, which meant that Bumblebee had to, so everyone else did, too. And in the end it was for the best. They had gotten Miles, and a now Neutral who just may end up turning into an Autobot if things had continued the way they were.

He knew Bumblebee would be devastated at the loss of Sam. He wasn't sure how much it would affect the Scout, but he knew it would be bad, and for a long time. He couldn't even imagine how Barricade would react, but he could guess it had something to do with hiding it until he couldn't, and that was if he didn't leave the Autobots because of it. Right now things were good, and were going to get better if things went okay.

But they weren't going to if the teens never breathed again.

Ratchet shook his head, "We can't risk putting them on a machine. We have no idea how the Allspark energy will react to that, and CPR didn't help. There's no reason for them to have stopped breathing, there's nothing for me to fix."

The young scout remained silent, staring at his unmoving Charge sadly.

Optimus opened up a comm link between only Ratchet, Ironhide, and himself. _:Someone needs to tell the parents of the situation.:_ Even over the comm link the young Prime sounded old and tired. Earth had been good to them so far, but it looked as if their lucky streak was about to end.

_:We should move them to my med-bay._: Ratchet replied, and neither Ironhide or Optimus were going to argue that they'd be better off in the human one. _:We'll have Bumblebee and Barricade carry them. Anyone else just might not work out right now._:

Ironhide and Optimus sent him their agreement, and Ratchet sighed. "Barricade, Bumblebee. Pick them up, we're taking them to my med-bay."

Silence was his only answer, but Ratchet didn't expect anything else. He watched as the two young Cybertronians almost matched each other for movements, both steel faced and resigned.

Until they actually touched the teens mere seconds apart from each other, but close enough to where they both gasped and no one could tell who did so first, and their holoforms flickered drastically, almost going out completely, before coming back full force. They missed how when their touches connected the area lit up, but the rest of the beings in the room didn't.

Ratchet was on them in an instant, shoving both Barricade and Bumblebee on to the bed with the teens, not caring that they were there. The teens were breathing, and both their Guardians were too shocked to even bother checking on them with Ratchet there.

Will was the first to speak, "What the _hell_ was that?"

"Energy." Bumblebee replied, staring at his charge in shock. "They took energy from us."

Ratchet himself nearly gaped in surprise, but he was a professional, and left Ironhide to do that and question them.

"How in the pit did they take enough energy that your holoforms flickered?" The Weapons Specialist asked, but got no answer.

As big as a Cybertonian was, they each contained a large amount of energy. Even after a long battle they could keep holoforms going for a good few months even without Energon, given that they got enough recharge and weren't gravely wounded or something like that. This was because out of everything they did, holoforms actually took a surprisingly little amount of energy to create and maintain. For enough energy to be taken that there holoforms actually flickered was a shock to their systems, and they had just barely managed to keep the holoforms from fizzing out completely.

* * *

><p>Both Miles and Sam groaned in unison, picking themselves up from where they had been dropped. Starscream lay near to them, the occasional part twitching, as unseeing optics remained online and staring up at the sky. The SIC of the Decepticons was paralyzed.<p>

Sam backed away from the downed seeker quickly, "What the fuck was that?"

"I don't know!" Was his best friend's response, one he should have seen coming. "But whatever the fuck happened tingled."

Tingled was hardly the way to put it, but it was the only way that either could describe it. It hadn't taken much for Starscream to capture both of them, which they both felt the worrying effect of disconnecting more from their outside bodies. Before they had a small sense of it, that they weren't actually in their bodies, and that they were in two seperate places. But then that disappeared, and they only felt like they were in Starscream's gasp.

They had no idea that their real bodies had stopped breathing, or that when their Guardians touched them they took a shit load of energy from them.

Just that one moment Starscream was boasting smugly about capturing the mighty defeater of Megatron, and that the next they both felt a huge surge of... something race through their bodies. It must have connected with Starscream, because in the next instant the seeker was down.

The sensation didn't hurt, but it couldn't be described as pleasant. It was like they were feeling whatever was happening to every cell in their real body, as well as whatever they could be currently counted as right now. Apparitions, manifestations. Whatever.

Neither of the teens really bothered to wonder what had just happened. They just ran.

* * *

><p>For one small moment, Ratchet feared for his spark. Then he reminded himself that he was actually a huge being made ot of metal. With weapons. And they were two puny organics that he could step on.<p>

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THAT BEE AND CADE CAN STAY WITH THEM BUT WE CAN'T?" He then realized that being afraid was probably the smarter thing. Poor Ironhide was the one having to tell the mothers, too.

He hoped the husbands would be somewhat easier to handle, because Optimus and Will were going to be informing them.

Now all he had to do was keep Elizabeth and Judy from managing to kill Ironhide.

* * *

><p>Bumblebee and Barricade avoided looking at each other, which was rather easy, seeing as they would both prefer to keep an eye on their respective charge's anyway.<p>

Bumblebee laid on Sam's bed, holding the teen close. Both of their bodies were stationed just outside the window, and he would continuously scan the teen to make sure no new changes had happened just yet.

Barricade sat on Miles' bed, the teen pulled into his lap. He was leaning against the wall, which ensured Miles a more comfortable position even if he wasn't sure the teen could feel it. It was like they had switched positions almost, Miles now sitting up while Sam was laying down. Of course, neither of the mech's noticed, or cared about that.

Bumblebee growled suddenly, and Barricade looked at him.

"Keep that up and they'll worry we've switched personalities." Primus, but he never did think he'd see the day he'd be cracking a joke in an attempt to help an Autobot feel better. And he thought it was all because of the human currently in his arms. Without Miles he wasn't sure what he would have done, but he doubted it had anything to do with the Autobots.

Bumblebee ignored him, though Barricade wasn't too surprised by this. He was surprised when the young scout shook Sam slightly, worrying for just a moment that maybe it was possible that the yellow Autobot had snapped.

"I don't care where you are or what you're doing, but you get back here right now Samual James Witwicky! And that's a fragging order!" He hissed, shaking the teen more. He sounded angry at the teen, which would have shocked anyone in a normal situation. Bumblebee never got mad at Sam.

Barricade was about to say something, or call Ratchet, he wasn't sure which, when Sam twitched, laughed, and then groaned. He then cracked his eyes open, looked at Bumblebee, then over to Barricade and Miles, and groaned once more.

"Oh shit, Miles is going to ki-gack!" He never got to finish his sentence, because Bumblebee started to hug him tightly. "Bee! Death by hugging isn't cool at all!" He tried to push the Autobot Scout away, but failed.

* * *

><p>Miles stared in shock at the downed seeker. Somehow he had gotten the idea to use the 'Big things really do fall harder' theory, and managed to make Starscream slip just as he was reaching for Sam. He figured it was the Allspark energy for that working out, but in reality Seeker's just weren't as graceful on the ground as they were in the air. Especially wet ground. And so the seeker had slipped, fallen on his aft hard and continued to go sliding, steering himself away from hitting a few Hatchling pods, only to slam into the wall of the Nemesis and lay in a crumpled heap, groaning.<p>

He heard Sam laugh behind him, but it sounded further away then he thought possible. That's when he heard Bumblebee's voice somewhere in his mind. _I don't care where you are or what you're doing, but you get back here right now Samual James Witwicky! And that's a fragging order!_

He turned around to grin at his friend, crack some joke about his master calling him, just as Sam froze, and then faded out completely.

"Oh _hell no._" Miles was pissed, and already planning his revenge. Up until he noticed Starscream getting back up, and then he was running again.

* * *

><p>Miles had stopped breathing, again, and Sam blamed himself. If he had stayed with his fellow teen then maybe this wouldn't be happeneing.<p>

"Do something that surprises him! Bee sounded pissed at me so I was surprised and came around. More so surprised I could hear him, too, but..."

"Like what?"

Sam tried to think of something in that crucial moment, "Ah, fuck, I dunno! Kiss his ass! Pretend he's sleeping beauty!"

Sam was surprised when Barricade actually listened to him. Even more when Barricade definitely went the surprising route, and actually did it as if he was kissing some princess he hoped would wake up so he could marry them, cupping the teens face in his hands. If nothing else, seeing that would have definitely surprised him into coming back into his body. He almost wished he had a camera, but that thought was moved to the side quickly when nothing happened.

"How the fuck isn't that surprising? Damn his ass!"

"Maybe we should get Ironhide in here to do it..." Bumblebee suggested, "That would have to shock him. Having Ironhide kiss him and then if nothing else serenade him."

Sam shook his head, "Kissing again probably wouldn't work if it didn't work the first time. So uhm..."

The two continued to talk, not even bothering to include the ex-con. It annoyed him more than he thought it should. They didn't think he could surprise Miles, or get him back?

Later on if anything was said by the three he'd say it was because Sam and Bumblebee had pissed him off, and he just started to say whatever he thought would be the most surprising. Not that he actually cared enough to think of it on his own, certainly not that.

Either way he kept the teen's face cupped in his hands, and leaned his forehead against Miles'. He started to talk.

"You listen here, you little glitch. You need to come back from wherever it is you are. Elizabeth is going to kill all of us if you don't turn out okay, especially me since I'm the reason you're here in the first place. And I'm going to have a slagging long talk with Primus before they drag me down to the pit." A pause, no reaction. Except for Bumblebee and Sam going silent and staring at him. Barricade growled, "You slagging promised me, remember? Way back before you and Sam had even started to talk again. You promised that you weren't going anywhere until you had either annoyed me to death, or thought I could do without you. Well you know what? You haven't done either of those things yet! I still ne-I'd still probably kill at least one of these Autodolts if you weren't here with me! You're the most illogical and stupid thing I've ever met, but somehow you've wormed your way into my spark. So you know what? That means _you_ owe _me_!" A slight twitch, it escaped Sam's notice, but not Bumblebee's or Barricade's. And he started to breathe. "That's right, you fragging owe me. So you need to come back, name that ridiculous bear your femme creator got you after me just to annoy the slag out of me, and hell maybe I actually do owe you a hug or two, or something!" A pause. "You're needed here, slag it! By all of us, by me!"

There was no other reaction, and Barricade felt his hope's dropping. He sat back, shoulders slumped, just as he noticed the grin forming on Miles' face.

"If I pretend to still be asleep would you keep talking?" The young teen spoke, opening his eyes and glancing around the room. "I mean, wow, talk about an ego boost."

Sam let out a relieved laugh, slumping against Bumblebee. He leaned his head against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "Dammit, Miles, why the hell do you have to be so hard to shock?"

He got no response, and frowned. Just before he looked he heard Bumblebee start to laugh.

"Apparently it's not that hard." And Sam looked, laughing when he saw a frozen Miles being hugged by Barricade.

Out of all the things to throw Miles off kilter, it would be the fact that he was being hugged by 'Barry'. Apparently this didn't escape Barricade's notice either, because the ex-con started to laugh. And then Miles was laughing too, apparently over his small little shock, even as he attempted to look annoyed.

"I am so not naming that bear after you. Having one of you is almost too much for me to handle, I don't need a second Barry. He'll be named Prowler the II and given to Jazz."


	37. Alice chased the Rabbit

**Update: I'm redoing a few of my beginning chapters. Ch.1 I changed a lot, and I already have that completed. I'll be updating that after I update this. **

**AN: So I bring in Alice! Poor Sam, he'll never French again!**

**Concerning Revenge of the Fallen plot line:** Obviously I am going to be following that a bit, but not by much. All four teens still haven't graduated yet, so it's only been about a year since Mission City. Not two. I'm debating whether there will be a Leo in this or not. I kind of liked him and kind of didn't, but I didn't because he got more screen time than Miles. The aft. I also wanted Alice in because I wanted the tongue scene. Hehe. Then Wheelie, and probably Jetfire. Anything else might be a mix up, though Egypt will probably definitely happen.

**SIDENOTE: **_Jacqueline Walker_ drew a picture of Epps and Graham-_Cracker_! I think it's adorable and funny. :D The link is at the top of her profile, and on my profile, so if you want to check it out you can. (And she's the first person to do fanart for this story, that I know of, so double thanks and squee!)

**SIDENOTE2:** If this story, or any of my stories, ever inspires you guys to write or draw something go ahead and do it! I'd love to see it though

**Reviews:** Thanks to _Fk306 animelover_, _Noella50881_, _shadow-dog18_, _TransformerJunkie_, and _Jacqueline Walker_ for reviewing!  
><em><span>Iwanita:<span>_ Welcome to the story! I'm happy you like it so far! A lot of people did like ch. 33, including myself, haha. That one was particularly fun to write, and it fed some of my BxM hunger until I decide whether to pair 'em up yet or not!

**_Chapter 37  
>Alice chased the Rabbit<em>**

* * *

><p>Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobot faction and bearer of the Matrix, looked to William Lennox, the Captain and head of the NEST organic section. Prowl, his SIC and tactician specialist, and Jazz, his TIC and head of Special Ops sat on either side of the young Prime. Filling up the other seats in the meeting room was Ratchet, CMO, Ironhide, Weapons Specialist, Wheeljack, Bumblebee, and Barricade. The young army captain sat on the table near his fellow organics, Sam and Miles, two teens, and Epps, his best friend and technical SIC.<p>

The only funny part of the entire situation was that Jazz, having been given Prowler the II by Miles, had brought the bear, and Prowl seemed to be having a stare down with it, doorwings raised in an agitated 'V' formation. To top it all off the SIC appeared to be _losing_, much to the amusement of everyone in the room.

They had called the meeting to discuss what the boys had gone through, and the first thing either had brought up was the Allspark shard, and the Allspark energy they contained. Why hadn't been discussed just yet, mainly because they were waiting for the answer to their question.

_Where was the Allspark shard?_

The captain cleared his throat, twitching at all the eyes on him.

"Er, well, it's like this..." Smooth, Will, very smooth. But that part would be better than the rest of what he was going to say. "Seeing as the Autobots have, well, _us_, and that Allspark shard was nearly out of juice anyway... Optimus allowed our government to take it and put it under lock and key else where. And me and the boss bots were the only ones to know, minus Keller and the higher ups."

Dead silence in the room. Miles and Sam looked at each other, and Will tried to tell himself that it wasn't resigned horror he saw on their faces. Epps looked pissed. Ratchet looked pissed. Prowl looked even more agitated. Ironhide looked... well, he was making a show of cleaning his cannons, with a pleasant grin on his face. Which meant it wasn't good. Bumblebee looked distinctly worried, and slightly betrayed. Barricade looked as impassive as ever.

Surprisingly enough Ratchet was the first to explode, in his own special way. This being taking out a wrench, and tossing it at Prime's helm. The resounding clang! of metal connecting on metal had the humans jumping, and Optimus groaning loudly as he reached up to rub at the spot with a servo. Prowl twitched, but said nothing. He was apparently angry at Optimus, too.

"We didn't think it would be that big of a deal... It only holds a small amount of energy. No information can be gotten from it by the humans, or anyone else for that matter." Will defended the both of them, backing down a bit when all eyes and optics turned back to him.

"How much energy?" Sam whispered.

Will looked at Optimus, and Optimus looked at Wheeljack. The inventor would be able to put it in better terms, even if he hadn't known about what was happening.

"Lesse... Only enough to bring someone like Prime back, with a bit of help from a medic to keep 'em going, or two of Bumblebee, or three of Ravage."

Sam groaned audibly, slumping against his Guardian's arm and putting a hand over his face. "Megatron?"

"Well..." Wheeljack paused uncomfortably, "That'd be someone like Prime, yes."

Miles made a face, looking up at the ceiling for a moment.

"I suggest you retrieve it. Like five minutes ago." Sam said, copying a phrase Miles had used not too long ago. At least to the two teens.

"Well, look on the bright side, Sam. Maybe Screamer won't bother with us after all."

"Doubt it. That was a rather spectacular aft plant you had him do, and if it's not Screamer it will be Megsy with me."

Everyone around and on the table looked at the two teens.

Sam sighed, "So, this feeling, right? I feel it."

Epps half-heartedly glared at him.

"Well, obviously, Samual. And because of your fragging bromance Miles follows you when you get distracted by the shiny."

"It was not shiny!" Sam protested, though Miles sniggered.

"Those hatchling pods were kind of shiny, dude."

Sam huffed, even as all the Cybertronians looked at each other.

"What do you mean, hatchling pods?" Wheeljack asked.

"Meant what I said, Jack." Miles grinned. "Hatchling pods. Containing, y'know, _hatchlings._ From the way Starscream acted I don't think we need to worry about him around Orion. Possibly. Maybe it's just hatchlings?" He peered at Sam, before shrugging, and continuing. "So, Sam drags us to some rock floating near Saturn. I figure one of the moons, not sure. And there's what looks to be a ship."

"Decepticon, we're assuming. Since Starscream was on it. And the mystery mech." Sam added in helpfully.

Optimus Prime frowned behind his battle mask, "Mystery mech?"

Sam and Miles looked at each other, before both shrugged.

"Weird looking guy, from what we could see in the shadows. Bad lighting for us fleshlings." Sam replied. "Starscream seemed to respond to him, though. Even called him 'my liege'."

Ratchet snorted, "So he finally turned his back on Megatron? That isn't surprising."

"Actually," Miles intoned, "The big bad mystery mech wanted Megatron brought back. Screamer was in agreement. He originally told Starscream to capture the source of the Allspark energy, which he recognized Sam, and that I was a fellow organic. It wouldn't take him much to figure out that he should return to Earth. The last thing we want is him getting his hands on the Allspark shard."

"Them getting the shard would be preferred." Barricade said softly, and optics and eyes turned on him in shock. He growled, "Starscream knows that Sam and Miles contain Allspark energy. Not why, but he knows. He already knows Sam. If the two are together even Ironhide could figure out who Miles was. If they get the shard and use it on Megatron, that's it. If they get Sam or Miles, or even find out about Will and Epps and get one of them, well, we don't know how much power they have."

Silence for a moment, before Prowl nodded. "The Allspark shard is just that. A shard. A fragment of what it once was. We know for a fact that Sam, Miles, Epps, and Will now contain more energy in only one of them than that shard would combined with another. We can only assume the knowledge has passed on to them, or another source all together."

All four humans gaped in disbelief.

"You can't be serious!" Will stood up from his seat, turning one-hundred and eighty degrees so he could look at all of them. "You'd just give up the shard?"

"It would lure them away from you, William. All of you." Optimus said, using the tone only a Prime could that meant no arguements. The Captain sputtered angrily, but sat back down when Epps tugged on his sleeve.

"And our families?" Miles asked, looking up at the Prime.

Optimus almost hesitated. _Almost_. Femme creators from the organics could be extremely strong willed, and good at using parental guilt against a mech to get them to recharge. He vented softly. He could already see Elizabeth Lancaster, Judy Witwicky, and Sarah Lennox teaming up.

"They will be moved here." He said simply.

The two teens were at least satisfied by that. Epps and Will, however, took a little more convincing.

* * *

><p>Somehow it had turned from a possible life threatening situation to a fun little game. WPP, the Witness Protection Program, it was all made into some big joke by their parents. This annoyed Sam and Miles greatly, even if they could see why everyone was trying to make light of the situation.<p>

They were still children, even by their own culture's standards. Neither were eighteen yet, though both had experiences with Decepticons. Miles' was noticeably different than Sam's, but it was an experience non the less. And despite this fact their parents were coddling them, treating it as if it was some wonderful adventure. A minor annoyance, compared to the security brought by knowing their family was near by, and that they didn't have to worry about what may or may not be happening to them.

Miles had brought Sasha, and he and Sam were in a mattress store, looking at beds for their parents. It was a small freedom, one that the two were going to take their longest at. A rare time to be alone, out of sight of even their Guardians.

That wasn't to say there wasn't someone close at hand. Bumblebee, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jazz, and Trailbreaker were all driving through the area, the store just barely being in Tranquility enough to still be called in Tranquility. Barricade was most likely there as well, though he hadn't been signed on to that particular mission.

They had barely entered the store when Sam saw her. Long, dirty blonde hair with sun kissed skin, and an innocent white dress that only _barely_ came down long enough to remain innocent. It wasn't love at first sight, but it was definitely lust at first sight.

Miles turned around to ask Sam a question when he noticed, and the teen had to resist the urge to groan. What was with Sam and ditching him for a hot girl? Honestly. Mikaela he could see, since Sam had been crushing on her for forever, but he didn't know this new girl, and he really doubted Sam did either.

Sam made a gesture, and it took Miles a moment to realize what he was seeing. Sam was waving him away. He blinked, and then smirked. Sam was so lucky he didn't feel like completely embarrassing him. Instead, he went and did what he was supposed to. Look for beds.

* * *

><p>Miles had spent an entire twenty minutes scouring the store for decent looking beds while Sam went and played with his new little girlfriend. Which was all well and fine until Miles made it to the back of the store, and found a stuttering Sam pinned to the bed by the blonde girl. He tried extremely hard not to laugh. It figured Sam would get the kinky girl.<p>

Neither noticed them, or at least he assumed so on the girl's part, since she leaned in with her tongue already partly out and started to kiss Sam. Miles made a face, that was so something he did not want to see. One of the last things any normal human would want to see was their sibling, which Sam basically was to him, getting it on with someone.

He was about to turn away, but he never got the chance to before he realized how very odd the girl was. The whole thing had happened in less than five seconds, which was maybe a Primus sent blessing for Sam, as it turned out. Because while he didn't know what was going on inside his best friend's mouth, he did see the metal looking tail come out from under the girl's dress, the sharp point aiming towards Sam.

* * *

><p>Sam really didn't feel guilty about technically ditching Miles. Again. The thought that he might regret it never even crossed his mind.<p>

The only thing on his mind right now was the beautiful blonde on top of him, and leaning closer.

Okay, and maybe he had caught a fleeting glance of Miles, but by the look on his friend's face he knew he wasn't mad. More like trying not to laugh his ass off, the jerk. So what if he got a little nervous around girls?

Especially one as straight forward as Alice. And apparently kinky, because she was diving in tongue first.

Almost instantly Sam realized something was wrong. Her tongue just kept going. Towards the back of his mouth, even past the area with his gag reflex, and then farther, going down his throat and choking him as he could do nothing to stop it, except raise his hands and try to push her away.

Just as he was about to, Alice was jerked away from him, her tongue coming with her after a few seconds, and oh Primus, he felt like he was going to be sick.

He looked up into his friend's astonished face just as Alice hit the floor, and gave an enraged shriek. Both turned to look at her when she jumped back up, hissing, her face realigning itself so that metal shone through.

Sam laid there frozen as he watched the beautiful girl he had lusted after turn into a horrifying metal creature. He watched as her tongue darted out, and he was disturbed to note that the tip still looked surprisingly human, as it wrapped around his neck, and then picked the him up as if he was as light as a feather and tossed him.

Sam was lucky enough that after hitting the wall he landed on a bed. Hitting the wall? Hurt like shit. But hitting the floor afterwards would have just made it worse. Sam groaned, and mentally made a note to himself that having Ratchet scan him later wouldn't be a bad idea. He sure hurt enough for it.

Of course, Miles didn't know this just yet. He just saw Sam go flying to somewhere near the front of the store. Then Alice turned towards him.

Miles was running, screaming his head off. He had almost gone right by Sam before his friend managed to pull him down, just before he was hit by whatever the pissed off female robot had shot at him.

Feathers exploded everywhere, and the alarms went off. People were already running around like they were chickens with their heads cut off, screaming at the sight of the hideous metal creature.

"**_GIVE ME THE ALLSPARK ENERGY! GIVE IT TO ME, OR DIE, FLESHLINGS!_**"

Well that answered the question of what Alice wanted.

Sam scrambled up off the bed he was on just as it was shot, and exploded into feathers and metal springs, and whatever else a bed happened to be made of.

Miles grabbed the closest thing he could, which happened to be a lamp, and tossed it. Amazingly enough it connected with Alice's face, snapping it back into what would have been a painful position for a real human.

The two teens ran, then ducked behind a dresser.

"Sam, I hate you." Miles hissed.

Sam gaped at his friend. "What? I don't need this!" He threw his hands up in the air angrily, "I just had that thing shove it's tongue down my throat! I didn't ask for that! Then she-he, it, whatever-tossed me and I went flying across half the store!"

"You were perfectly fine with it before you realized how long it was." Miles pointed out dryly, causing Sam to glare at his friend.

"Ten second silent treatment!" Sam realized he was being completely childish, but at that moment he didn't really care.

It was Miles turn to gap.

"You can't be serious!" A pause as he watched Sam turn his head to the side in a huffy manner. "Sam!" No response. "I-yo-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off by another blast, directly over their heads. "Sasha on three."

Sam nodded, and Miles counted down. 1, 2, ...3! And they were off, racing for the front door as Alice stalked towards them.

They had pushed the door open. Alice didn't seem to like that option, and instead blasted the door, then stepped through that hole.

Which wasn't fine with the teens at all. It gave them just that few seconds less to get to the car, but they did it. Miles shoving the key in the keyhole with an almost violent force, unlocking Sasha, and then diving in. Sam was beside him in just a few seconds, and he was already starting the car and backing up.

"DUCK!" Sam screamed, Miles still paying attention to the backing up part of getting the hell out of dodge. Miles did as his friend said, both crouching low in their seats just as the front windshield exploded, sending glass everywhere. A follow up shot had the front tire blown out.

Sam cursed loudly at this, but Miles waited. Just a few more steps. Just a few more seconds.

"Miles, what are we going to do? Miles..." Sam seemed to catch on when he noticed what Alice was now in front of. "Oh, hell yeah."

Miles reversed just a few more feet, then changed it to drive, and pressed his foot as far down as it could go on the gas pedal. The car, Sasha, protested this rough treatment with a bad wheel, but had to go through with it anyway. She was non-sentient, and it wasn't like she could feel it as fender met Cybertronian metal, and then brick wall.

The two teens jerked forward by the impact, and then back again when the air bags deployed.

Sam groaned, and rubbed his neck, before giving a nervous, slightly shaky laugh. So the whiplash had strained his neck a little. But who need giant alien robots for everything? Not them. They had, or did have, a perfectly capable non-sentient car to help them out.

Miles, on the other hand, cursed vehemently, causing Sam to look over at him.

"Dude, your nose is bleeding!" Sam winced at what had just came out of his mouth, then grinned at the glare he was shot, and the words that followed.

"I really hate you, Sam."

The two teens climbed out of the car, one holding his face, while the other peered at the front of the now banged up vehicle cautiously. They could hear sirens off in the distance.

"Hate to say it, but I think Sasha's a goner."

Miles stuck out his tongue, and Sam grimaced, causing Miles to grin triumphantly.

The sirens were getting louder, and it wasn't long before a saleen police cruiser, bright yellow camaro, and a black GMC topkick were pulling up.

Sam waved, "We took care of it. Now you guys get the clean up, the cover up, and the paying the damages off. Now, what the fuck was with terminator bitch there?"

Bumblebee's and Barricade's holoforms were climbing out of their cars, keeping up the appearance of not being giant alien robots from outer space. Bumblebee went and grabbed Sam, bringing him closer to his car form so he could scan him easier.

Barricade was attempting to talk Miles into letting him see his nose, which wasn't working out extremely well for the ex-con. The young teen informed him it wasn't broken, but the Neutral still wanted to check. Miles could be extremely stubborn, and all he wanted to do was hold his nose and pretend nothing was wrong with it. On top of that he was wearing one of his favorite shirts that would stain easily, and all he had was his hands to block that. And he was so not going to bleed on someone else.

"That, was a Pretender." Ironhide said, examining the Cybertronian that Sasha had so bravely defeated.

"A Pretender? Gotcha." Sam allowed Bumblebee to examine him, dutifully informing his Guardian of anything he thought hurt, and how much. "She wanted the Allspark energy."

"The only thing she succeeded in getting was Sam to swear off French kissing for life." Miles said cheerfully.

"How?" Bumblebee asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh God, all of you shut up. I'm gonna gag if I keep thinking about it." Sam whined.

Bumblebee was slightly worried, and considering how possibly traumatic whatever could have happened could be, when he heard Miles snicker. He figured it couldn't be too bad if Miles could make fun of his friend for it.

"Are you ever going to ditch me for a girl again?"

"No, never."

Barricade snorted, "Someone's learning." A pause. "It's not broken."

"Told you." Miles huffed.


	38. Super Powers Ahoy!

**AN: So I updated like the first three chapters. The first three were full of fail. After that it improves enough to the point where I'm not like GJFDGIFGN CHANGENOW. You don't have to go back and read them since nothing actually changes, but it is a bit different, so you can if you want.**

**NEXT CH?: **I might be doing something surprising with Miles family, mainly by adding to it. This would take up about one chapter, probably, and at the end would get rid of Elizabeth and Bob being on base. And also might get Barricade to talk about his past a bit to Miles through blahblahblah (_descriptive, I know, but I don't want to give too many spoilers_). It's just like, idk... I'm kind of just taking a liberty with this because I know for a fact Miles' family is never mentioned in the actual movie, or Barricade's past for that matter. What do you guys think? Deepen this slag a bit more, or leave it the pit alone? (Yes, I know this is fan-FICTION, but I just feel like asking. I have a bunch of ideas that I sometimes go through and sometimes don't)

**REVIEWS: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed! (_Noella50881, OrianPrime92, Fk306 animelover_)

**SIDENOTE: I've been sick, so that's why I'm back to updating daily. Not that I think you guys mind it, just fyi. So I might not be updating again for... idk, depends on how much schoolwork I have to catch up on with stuff on top of that! Got a fun Halloween thing on Wednesday!**

_**Chapter 38  
>Super Powers Ahoy!<strong>___

* * *

><p>It was an unspoken agreement between the four humans containing Allspark energy: Try to find out more about what they could do, without getting caught. After the last time the Cybertronians were less than thrilled, and even Optimus Prime had said not to do it again unless they thought it was an emergency, and if possible, could discuss it with one of the Senior Staff, minus their Guardians if it happened to be Ironhide.<p>

There was another unspoken agreement, though this was mainly between Epps and Miles. Try to think of a cool name to refer to them as. So far the both of them had been failing miserably, not for lack of trying.

* * *

><p><em>Miles<em>_:_

They were in the Autobot rec-room, for once. Bumblebee and Jazz were having a dance off, and it was actually surprising just how flexible someone made of metal could be.

Miles sat on Barricade's shoulder, half leaning against the ex-con's helm. Ironhide had Will, Sam, and Epps. Sideswipe had Fig, even with Sunstreaker sitting directly beside them. Prowl sat beside Barricade, drinking some Energon. Ratbat, Ravage, and Soundwave were there as well.

Ravage was sitting near to Barricade, so he and Miles could talk without having the comm link strained. After some experimenting they found that the farther away the two were from each other, the harder Miles would have to concentrate. But practice did make perfect, and the more they did it, the better the teen got at it.

_:If you can communicate with me in this way, I'd really be surprised if you couldn't do it with others as well._: Ravage told him, not even bothering to look at Miles. He was too busy keeping an eye on Ratbat as his younger brother flew around excitedly.

Miles hadn't thought of that. _:Really? That'd be awesome!:_

_:Try it.:_ The cat mech encouraged, and Miles decided to do so.

He thought, and then thought some more. He first focused on how he felt while talking to Ravage, and how the link was still there even when they weren't talking. It wasn't intrusive, just something extra that wasn't there before. Like if someone had just gotten glasses or contacts, you only needed to get used to it before it became a part of you.

He could feel Ravage, or at least recognize that the one and only link at the time was towards the cat mech. And then he tried to feel more, and slowly he became able to.

_:Score, Rav! But I can't tell who anyone is besides you. So I dunno about actually talking to somemech yet.:_

_:Just try one. What's the worse that can happen?:_ Ravage sounded amused, and when Miles looked at the cat mech he looked amused too.

Miles rolled his eyes, and then chose one. He paused a moment, before jumping right in.

_:Hey, who is this?:_

_:DECEPTICON!:_ Red Alert's voice came through, and it was amazingly loud.

Miles flinched, hands flying up to cover his ears even though that wouldn't do anything. He slipped off Barricade's shoulder, the ex-con barely catching him, though Miles was more concerned with shutting the comm link off. Holy frag, Red Alert could get _loud._

Miles did manage to shut the link off, but not before realizing the SD was going to go into another fritz. He tried to comm Ratchet. Barricade, meanwhile, was just staring at him and being ignored. The ex-con raised an optic ridge.

_:Ratchet?:_

Nope, Ironhide jerked, looking at him with wide optics. Not Ratchet. Miles groaned just as the Red Alert could be heard running and screaming down the hall.

"Oh, frag. Prowl, comm Ratch and tell him I didn't mean too!" Miles got out just before there was a loud crash, then the sound of Red Alert hitting the floor.

Prowl looked surprised, and then annoyed. "What did you do, _now_?"

"I can talk to more than just Rav, apparently. And I ended up getting Red Alert by accident." The teen explained.

"Ravage: Also to blame." Soundwave cut in. "Miles: No warning comes up the first few times he comm's you. This means that you don't get the option to decline it, or even investigate who it is. It just goes straight through. Ravage: Says that after awhile this changes, your processor recognizing who it is after so long."

There was silence for a moment, before a disgruntled Ironhide spoke up.

"You thought _I _was _Ratchet?_" Miles couldn't tell if he sounded offended or not.

"I can't tell who it is I'm talking to. The only one I can is Rav!"

For the next two weeks Miles was made to spend time talking to every single Cybertronian through the comm links until he could tell who was who, and everyone could recognize him, and decide if they wanted to talk to him or not that way. He also learned how to hold comm conversations with more than one mech.

At one point he had even gotten a data burst from Jazz, but that hadn't ended too well. In the process Jazz also ended up having to send more energy than was usually required, and did so without thinking of the consequences. Miles had spent the rest of his day unable to stop moving. Ironhide had used him as target practice for a bit, and then he had been given to the Dinobots.

Grimlock, Swoop, and Snarl had enjoyed that, though. They had got to play chase the teen for a couple of hours, before they had gotten bored. When someone had bothered to look, this being Barricade and Sam, they eventually found out he had crashed, and Swoop had taken him to his nest. The teen had to be rescued, and it was agreed that no one would try that again unless they knew better.

Not so surprisingly the rate of pranks that Miles joined in went up by about 75%.

* * *

><p><em>Sam<em>_:_

"Ratchet is going to go insane." Epps commented, smirking at the two teens in front of him. The three of them and Will were meeting up for lunch in Will's office.

Why not the cafeteria? There had been an outbreak of the flu on base. Graham had it, and so did Maggie, Bob, Sarah, and Ron. Just the other day Fig had sneezed, _only_ sneezed, and Sideswipe had nearly taken out Bob getting Fig out of the same room as him. The poor, spanish-speaking man hadn't been seen since.

Will came in ten minutes late, and slumped into his chair with a cup of coffee. Epps, Miles, and Sam looked at him. The two teens wisely kept their mouths shut. Epps, however, did not.

"Jesus, you look like hell warmed over." And Will glared at his Sergeant.

The Captain took a long drink of his coffee, "Remember how Sarah has the flu? Annabelle came down with it, too."

Well that sucked.

"And Ironhide?"

"Either about to marry Ratchet and move in with him permanently, while stealing Ann and raising her as their own," A pause as Will let his forehead fall forward on to his desk, "Or about to commit some creepy kind of Cybertronian suicide because Sarah's the one who normally cares for Ann and she gets fussy otherwise. She doesn't like Ironhide touching her right now."

"That's rough, my man." Epps winced sympathetically, "I feel bad for Ratch, too. He can't just cure us cuz we're not that awesome. Has to be driving the good doc bonkers."

Will just gave him the evil eye, before sighing. "You guys get to go to med-bay with me. Fight to get my daughter back."

"Let's eat first. If we're going to take down 'Hide and the Hatchet, we'll need it." Miles said seriously, grinning despite his serious tone.

So they ate, and then hightailed it to the med-bay. Will really wanted his little girl back, and if nothing else Miles could comm Optimus or Prowl and have them ordered to relinquish her.

Will stood up on one of the berths with Epps beside him, the Captain had his arms crossed over his chest and an extremely displeased look on his face. No one bothered to mention that he looked like he had stolen the position from Sarah, for fear of angering the soldier further.

Will was fighting with both Ironhide and Ratchet, Epps just there as support. Miles and Sam snuck over to where Annabelle was being kept, and Sam picked her up, rocking her gently.

Annabelle sniffled, looking up at the teen with wide, tear filled eyes.

"Aww," Sam cooed, brushing some of her hair out of her face. "Poor little Annie, being sick isn't any fun is it?"

Annabelle giggled, and Sam blinked. His hand tingled from where he had touched Will's daughter, and that was unusual. He turned around to look at Will, already starting to get nervous. Something had happened, but what?

"Samual!" Ratchet barked, causing Sam to jump.

"I didn't mean to do it!"

Ratchet rolled his optics, and moved closer. He scanned Annabelle.

"Well, looks like Miles isn't the only one with a fun new power." Ratchet sounded happy, which was rare. Sam wasn't sure if he should be scared or not, and Ratchet laughed. "You made her better."

"Oh, that's gre-" Sam sneezed, Ratchet immediately scanning the teen.

"And yourself worse, apparently." The medic commented dryly.

Sam groaned. His time, after getting better, of course, would be spent learning how to make people better without it affecting himself.

* * *

><p><em>Epps<em>_:_

Epps found out his power not too long after Sam did. He was in Prowl's office with Jazz, the saboteur actively trying to annoy the SIC until he took a break.

Which meant he was being ignored for the most part, and was bored. He stared at Prowler the II, who was situated on the SIC's desk. He imagined the giant stuffed bear was dancing.

And then it was, and their was silence in the room. Epps blinked, and almost thought he had a really good imagination, or ate the wrong brownies earlier, until he looked at the two mechs in the room. Both were staring with wide optics.

Prowler the II got through Thriller before the real Prowl crashed, and Jazz began to cackle evilly. He grabbed up Epps.

"We ah gonna have so much fun with this!" And Epps smirked.

* * *

><p><em>Will<em>_:_

Will actually found out his because of Epps, Fig, Graham, Sideswipe, Red Alert, and Wheeljack. A prank was aimed at him, Miles, and Sam.

Red Alert was more than happy to turn the other optic, Miles having managed to make his paranoia glitch come out completely, two times. Sam and Will, on the other hand, just happened to be in the same line of fire. It didn't matter, no one was going to get hurt.

Wheeljack somehow owed Sideswipe, but neither Epps or Fig would be able to find out how. Which meant it was probably extremely juicy, but they gave it up when Wheeljack threatened to not do it anymore and get Ratchet on Sideswipe's case. So he was brought in to invent stuff.

They waited until it was a night dinner would be held outside, warm enough to do so, but already dark. It wasn't hard to somehow separate the three from everyone else, so that they'd have to walk to the designated eating place. Just the three of them, in the dark.

"**_AAAAAHHHHHH!_**_"_

When three screams ripped through the relative silence of the dining area, two higher pitched than the third, many organics jumped. Ironhide was up like a bullet, racing off towards the sound in both his holoform and bipedal form. His bipedal form already had cannons up and powered on. Barricade and Bumblebee were hot on his tail. Skids and Mudflap stood up, in both their holoforms and bipedal forms, and got in fighting stances. Mikaela just rolled her eyes at them. Ron and Bob raised their beers, and tapped their cans together.

"To not knowing our sons have the vocal notes of a little girl." Bob said calmly, Ron nodding in agreement.

Elizabeth glared at her husband, "Bob! Something is obviously terrifying our little boy, and you insult him?"

"Lizzie, this is an army base. An army base filled with giant alien robots from outer space. If there was really something going down, we'd know about it." Bob replied.

Judy, meanwhile, was watching Barricade and Bumblebee, Ironhide already out of sight. "Damn, look at 'em go."

Jazz laughed, dissolving his holoform and having his bipedal form stand up.

"Ah think we shoul' go see the show." The saboteur said gleefully, picking up Glen and Mikaela up.

Ron, Bob, Judy, Elizabeth, Ratchet, and Prowl followed. They didn't have to walk very far, barely turning the corner before they nearly ran into Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Barricade.

Sam had literally scaled half of Bumblebee's leg, hanging on as tightly as he could and glaring down at the ground. Bumblebee was shaking, trying hard not to start laughing at the entire situation. Ironhide was in front of the young Scout, cannons powered down and he looked proud. Will was standing in front of what looked like several horribly wounded humans, _zombies_, surrounded by several zombie parts. Barricade's bipedal form was next to Ironhide, though his holoform was in front of all of them, holding Miles protectively. Miles was safely situated behind Barricade, though at first the teen had jumped and clung to the holoform, before Barricade managed to pry him off. And now he was laughing.

"Dude, that was wicked! I nearly pissed myself!"

Elizabeth turned to Bob, "You win," she sighed.

Bob looked smug.

"Wha' exactly happened here?" Jazz asked, grinning as he activated his holoform.

Epps smirked at all of them, gesturing to the downed mass of bodies near Will.

"These were created by Wheeljack. Zombies to scare our three lovely boys here." The sergeant motioned to Fig and Graham. "They played the part of victims."

Fig waved from his spot next to Epps, grinning. The spanish speaking man was covered in fake blood, and his clothes were torn. Graham looked nearly identical to Fig.

Will looked fairly gleeful, "I made it explode!"

Ironhide, Barricade, and Bumblebee had only just arrived on the scene. The army Captain had fallen behind the two teens, to protect them, and had stopped and turned to face the fake zombies. However they were faster than he expected, and were already on him when it happened. The one 'attacking' him sparked and blew into several pieces.

"Oh, Primus, not another one!" Ratchet groaned.

As it would turn out Will could only do this under stress, or in other words, when he actually felt like he or someone else were in danger.


	39. A Little Change

**AN: Sam and Bee getting together, y or n? Some of you may have read **_It was Only a Kiss_ **where there's a strong hint towards it, and well there's ideas soooo... I'm torn between putting it in here or continuing it in there.**

**Sidenote: I do have reasons for their abilities, some of which Optimus explains, and calling them powers was just for fun. So no it's not just a completely random thing like most of my stuff is, haha!**

**Also, imma be lazy this chapter and not do reviews. So there! Thanks to everyone who reviews, and reads this story!**

_**Chapter 39  
>A Little Change<strong>_

* * *

><p>It was quiet, for once. Barricade and Miles sat outside, the ex-con in bipedal form, and the human beside him, both looking up at the night sky. There was going to be a meteor shower, and they weren't the only ones out to watch it. Graham and Trailbreaker were just a few yards away, and there was others besides them. The teen had been less talkative that day, but not enough to cause concern. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, so the two had just been basking in it.<p>

"What were your Creators like?"

The question had come out of the blue from Miles, which in itself wasn't odd. The subject matter was. Before the teen had seemed to draw some unspoken line about delving too far into Barricade's. He wasn't sure if the teen was just weary about what he would find out, or what, but Barricade wasn't going to complain. He never did like answering a ton of questions, and once a human got on a new subject, there always seemed to be a lot.

"I do not remember. One died in a work involved incident, and the other followed after, I was told. I was given to my Caretaker instead, a mech."

"What was he like?" The teen asked.

Barricade thought for a moment, "He was very practical. He enjoyed experiencing what he thought were the finer things in life. To this day I am still not sure how raising a sparkling got in there with his idea of that, but it had. He gave me what I needed. Energon, shelter."

"The basics." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes. I was encouraged to find a way of getting whatever else I wanted on my own. There was encouragement to not do anything that he would disaprove of."

Miles turned his head just a bit so he could look up at the ex-con as the mech continued to talk. The caretaker: A mech that adopted for nothing more than to say he had raised a Sparkling, and given it what it needed. Love and affection were wanted, but not needed.

Energon and a berth to sleep in, a place to call home, with the use of it's most basic definition. A place that one lived in. The mech never really bothering with Barricade unless he had gotten himself in trouble, he had deemed it appropriate for a check up, which usually involved asking Barricade a few things or just examining whatever he had in his room at the time, or at meal time. Barricade realizing the fact that he could steal to get what he wanted, that he could watch and listen to find out how to live, and that living where he did meant being tough and crafty just in case you were caught.

If he was caught then he would be punished, and it was as simple as that to the Caretaker. The suggested need to fill the role of a disciplinarian for what some saw as a bad action, though never actually bothering to drive the point home. The Caretaker never personally expressed an opinion over these things, though when he never said anything about stuff magically appearing it was made evident he didn't care.

Miles was silent throughout, just letting the ex-con talk. He wasn't sure what seemed like the sadder fact to him: that Barricade had probably never realized what was missing with how his life continued, or that he had a life like that in the first place.

Barricade felt it was his turn to ask a question, "What brought that on?"

"I was thinking, but I drifted off from my original course."

"Wondered why I smelled smoke."

A beat of silence as Miles took that in. The teen huffed, but then couldn't stop a little snicker leaving him.

Miles huffed again for good measure, "Aft."

Barricade smirked, and the two fell into silence again for awhile. Like usual, Miles was the first to break it.

"My biological mech creator died, and I was invited to his funeral. I've been trying to think of anything that I could even think that wouldn't be slightly insulting to him if I did."

The ex-con shuttered and unshuttered his optics, then thought on that for awhile. With what little he knew he came up with nothing.

Miles grinned, "Right? I just keep thinking: Thanks for not using protection and ditching me, I like how my life turned out!"

"That's what you've been thinking about this whole time?" Barricade asked, incredulous.

"Well, no. I just tossed that out there because you're a slaggin' super computer." A small pause, as he let Barricade rev his engine in annoyance. "I've been trying to think of a convincing way to get Will to let me off base without my parents finding out just yet. I want to surprise them."

Barricade revved his engine in an angry manner. Surprise them with _what_? Surely not that his biological mech creator had died.

"You're leaving more questions than answers."

"Right, sorry. Okay, so it turns out that my biological mech creator ended up cleaning up his act and getting married to Alexandra and had some more children. He ends up dying of cancer, leaving this wife and children behind. She's going through his stuff and finds this whole entire box of stuff about _me_. He'd been keeping tabs on me anyway he could, and there's apparently a lot of letters he's written that were never sent saying how ashamed he is and all that good stuff, right? Well she finds out how to get my contact information and writes to me. She leaves me this number, and of course I call, and she lets me talk to my siblings. They're beyond Chuck Norris awesome, it's so unbelievable.'

There was a longer pause this time, and the teen sounded almost hesitant when he spoke again.

"Mom and Dad are old, Barry. Dad's only three years older than Mom, and they didn't have my biological femme creator until Mom was thirty. My biological femme creator had me and died in the same year, when she was twenty. That made Mom fifty and Dad fifty-three. It's been seventeen years since then, almost eighteen. They shouldn't be here on a military base with giant aliens from outer space when things may or may not be escalating to another Mission City battle. It's safer for them here than it was in Tranquillity when they could be easily connected to me, yes, but it's still dangerous."

"And you want them to go to this femme and the sparklings."

Miles nodded. Barricade vented softly.

"Good, I've been going a little stir crazy on this base."

Miles stared in surprise, and then grinned.

* * *

><p>It hadn't been that hard to convince the Captain to let Miles go, especially since he would have Barricade with him. It was harder to come up with an effective cover story as to why they were leaving base, but Ironhide was surprisingly helpful in coming up with one after Miles showed him a picture of all of his newly discovered half-siblings. The Weapons Specialist was a stickler for children, even tiny organic ones. It was almost funny, seeing as he had never actually had any himself.<p>

Prowl sat in Optimus' office, drinking some of the Energon he had brought for himself and the young Prime. Both looked out the window.

"It seems quieter." The SIC commented, and Optimus chuckled, nodding.

"Epps is sick. Miles and Barricade are gone so no insane laughter over something stupid, or growling and snarling. Will is busy keeping his mouth shut about whatever the two are really doing, Sam is busy trying to find out through Will what the two are doing, and Sideswipe is in the brig. No wonder." The Prime replied, grinning openly. He did enjoy his troops, especially the more prominent members. Organic and Cybertronian alike.

"Sam hasn't helped him?" Prowl asked, slightly surprised.

Optimus shook his head, "That only works sometimes."

"True. I still wonder how they got those abilities, though. How do they relate to the Allspark at all?"

"I suspect Primus has a reason behind this all. Communication is important. The ability to understand and be understood by those around you is a trait the Allspark also had. That it appears through a comm link is probably because of the nanobots inside of Miles, which are Cybertronian in origin and make it easier for him to do."

He let Prowl take that in, before continuing.

"The Allspark gives life, and would occasionally heal it. Healing is generally a step down from giving, but the two are entertwined. Medics are often seen as holy beings, being close to Primus almost. Bumblebee could speak with the Allspark, which many saw as slightly holy, too, though less so than Medics. Bumblebee being this perhaps left Sam in it's favor, or just letting it connect the healing ability to Sam easier. As far as we know he can only heal humans from minor things, and half the time he ends up giving whatever it is to himself. If he doesn't he becomes extremely tired."

Another pause.

"It is said that the Allspark is a direct way for Primus to meddle with his creations, and as a creator he would want to protect us, no? Will is Ironhide's charge, and Ironhide is my bodyguard as well as one of the mech's with the strongest Guardian protocals. Not to mention he's a captain in Earth's military, and used to finding ways to protect his men. The few times he's successfully managed to use that is always when he actually feels in danger, and someone else is there with him. Like when Wheeljack's drone lost control and Keller was visiting."

Optimus was doing well so far, in Prowl's opinion. "And Epps?"

"That's another I suspect is more linked to Primus than the Allspark. Naturally you have to be able to get things done."

"To meddle." Surprisingly enough, Prowl seemed to catch on to what Optimus wasn't saying.

The Prime made a sound like coffing, though he was clearly amused. "Perhaps."

Prowl eyed his commander warily, trying to decide whether or not he was serious.

"You know what the real reason for them leaving is, don't you?"

"But of course." A grin. "Who do you think gave Ironhide that good cover up story to cover for them?"

Prowl felt his doorwings twitch, "Meddler."

Outside the window they could see Swoop fly down and capture Sunstreaker. Again. Optimus laughed, and grinned.

"Not always." He then proved this fact by doing nothing to help his soldier, and ordering Prowl to do the same.

* * *

><p>Miles turned on the camera, setting it on a tree stump. He turned around and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. His little half siblings were all climbing Barricade like he was a tree. Fred and Rose, the twins, were clinging on to his legs, and dancing around his peds. Millie, the youngest, had latched herself on to his thumb, and was talking at the mech at a fast pace.<p>

"Well, well, Barry. I think they like you." Miles grinned, he thought the ex-con was doing extremely well. He hadn't growled, snarled, or snapped once.

"So it would seem." Barricade replied, shifting Millie so she was in his palm instead. He activated his holoform again and had it standing on the ground.

"Remember guys, we don't tell Mommy, got it?" Miles asked, grabbing Fred as he ran around.

"But why not?" Fred whined, struggling to get free.

"He's family." Miles grinned at Barricade, "Never had a chance to escape us, the poor sap. We keep family's secrets."

Barricade grinned internally, he could already see this going badly.

"Mommy's family too, Mi!"

Miles fumbled for something to say, "Mommy's not directly related to me, while Barry's uhm..."

All of a sudden Rose clapped, and squealed. "A prince! He's from another world, he's your Guardian, it makes perfect sense! And you're his princess, cuz you have longer hair! That's how he's family!"

"What? No, we-"

Millie gasped, "Tha' makes us pwincesses, don't it?"

Miles gaped at the girls, while they looked at him with innocent eyes and a hopeful expression. He couldn't even see how Rose had come to that conclusion, but she was just a child. Alexandra had said that she did adore anything that could lead to princess/prince or something similar. He could almost feel himself giving up. And he could hear Barricade snickering lightly. He turned to glare at the Neutral.

Barricade smirked, "Rose, do you think he needs a nice gown? Every nice princess has one."

"Yes!Yes!Yes!"

"Barry!" Miles hissed, "You're evil!"

* * *

><p>Elizabeth and Bob were less then pleased to learn that the story their son had given them for why he was leaving the base was a lie, but they weren't upset over the information they found out because of it. Elizabeth was down right excited, she loved children, and these were <em>family<em>. Never mind the fact that she wouldn't be sure what to actually call them, but they were all going with grandchildren just to make it simple.

Barricade was family, too, apparently, and that was fine with the both of them. While he wasn't family the way Rose and Millie wanted, their son and the mech were still close. There was nothing wrong with adopting a giant alien robot from light years away, was there?

It wasn't long before NEST was a little bit emptier, Elizabeth and Bob leaving to help Alexandra with their grandchildren. Miles spent more time with Judy and Ron the first few days, which was fine with them. They had already taken him in as family long ago, as Elizabeth and Bob had done with Sam.


	40. Flying High

**AN: **It's been awhile since I updated. Haha, sorry! BTW I started watching G1! That's where I got '...' too. Not revealing who just yet, read till the end to find out! I think Like a Boss by Slim Thug came out in '09, but I don't really care. Also, I believe that is a direct Wheelie quote from the movie!

**Reviews:** Thanks to all who reviewed! (_MissShelz, BrowneyedShamer, Noella50881, Iwanita, Fk306 animelover, Autobot Firekat, Ryen Selenity Caliburn, TransformerJunkie, and Happy_ Fan.)"  
><span>Sant04:<span> (_and anyone else who mentioned Princess!Miles)_ I just remembered Barricade calling Miles Princess in the chapter with Epps' recorder! Miles was doomed from the start.  
><em>shadow-dog18:<em> Good enough point!  
><em>Senka:<em> Regarding the powers, I do have plans for them and reasons as to why they are the way they are. One example might be in the next chapter if I get around to it.

Sidenote: Dear lord! Chapter 40 already!

**UPDATE:** Did Ms. Authoress really mix up plain and plane? Yes, yes, she did! Haha, I'm too lazy to read all the way over my crap, and generally I don't notice until _after_ I upload it. I reaally need to get a beta reader or just start re-reading everything.

_**Chapter 40  
>Flying high<strong>_

* * *

><p>Fig looked between the two in front of him. He knew he was already doomed, but he was attempting to put up a good fight. He had just recently gotten permission to leave base to visit his mother for a week, and all he had been talking about was eating her famous alligator meat.<p>

And Sam and Miles had asked Jorge to sneak them out. They were going stir crazy, and they did have a pretty good arguement. There would be a NEST soldier with them at all times, and it would broaden their cultural horizens.

"Please Fig?" Sam asked, standing closer to the soldier than Miles was.

"_Please?"_ Miles echoed his best human friend, both looking at the soldier hopefully.

Fig thought for little more than a moment. If he didn't, then he was screwed. He knew Miles could probably come up with something embarrassing after the gnome incident, and he didn't even want to know what Sam would do. If he did, and nothing happened, he'd get lightly reprimanded. If he did, and something _did_ happen... well, that was better left not thought about. He decided to take his chances, and hope that nothing worse happened than possibly a very long, annoying, road trip.

He sighed, "Sí, sí."

The two teens cheered, high-fiving each other. Fig rolled his eyes, going to talk to Optimus Prime. Despite the possible danger, Optimus probably wouldn't be that hard to convince to let the two go. He had let Barricade and Miles go to see Miles' family, Optimus being the one who gave Ironhide their cover story, and he'd let Will leave to do the same whenever Sarah wanted to visit her parents. Besides that, the Prime owed him. Fig would be one of the first to know about any pranks Sideswipe would be playing, and he'd tell Optimus so he could get a front row seat to the funny. What leader wouldn't appreciate that?

* * *

><p>Blaster checked the screen he was watching again, and then made sure he was seeing right. He was on monitor duty, and checking on Decepticon activity. According to the screen, he had stumbled on to some. <em>Frag.<em>

Seeing as where it was placed, he could only assume it was a seeker. But what was one doing all the way out there? According to Sector Seven they had gotten everything that there was to get.

He called Red Alert over, and then the two called on Prowl. They all found the same thing that Blaster had originally found.

And it was time to contact Prime.

* * *

><p>"Do you think something else could be there? I mean, Megatron was. Maybe something was with him, like a ship?" Epps asked, frowning at the image showing on the projector.<p>

After finding out, Optimus had called a meeting. Will, Epps, Graham, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Barricade, Ratchet, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, Jazz, Prowl, and Trailbreaker had all come to see what was going on. Soundwave had declinded coming, preferring to be in Wheeljack's lab while his Cassetticons ran wild outside.

"We could ask Sam. Archibald found Megatron, maybe he found something else and no one payed him any mind." Will suggested, leaning against Ironhide's servo. All of the organics were sitting on the large table, made for Cybertronian usage.

"We haven't seen either of them all day." Bumblebee sighed, looking at Barricade.

The ex-con shrugged, "We thought they were planning something."

Optimus cleared his vents, turning the projector off.

"No, I gave them permission to go with Fig to his mother's house for the week." Optimus didn't bother explaining himself. He was Prime, he shouldn't have to.

"You did _what?_" Bumblebee growled, surprising everyone, except Barricade. He had heard it before. The two did spend a lot of time together, even if it had originally only been because of Miles and Sam. Through that they came to tolerate one another, and that was enough.

"You really need to stop doing that. I'm not going to be blamed for influencing you, insect."

* * *

><p>Fig glanced at the two boys sitting in the back seat, "Whatever happened to the Allspark shard?"<p>

It had been retrieved, and then Optimus had given it to Wheeljack for the scientist to do as he saw fit.

Miles and Sam looked at each other, and grinned.

"Sorry, Figgy. That's classified information." Miles smirked, Sam nodding.

"Only four people know, besides who it went to. Wheeljack, myself, and Miles."

"Who's the fourth?"

"Optimus."

"He knows everything, doesn't he?"

Miles snorted, "If I was leading all of the same people, I'd make sure I knew everything, too. Only way he has to keep sane."

* * *

><p><em>Tranquility<em>

Mikaela worked away in her father's garage, wrist deep in the internals of a truck. She heard her phone go off, and grabbed a cloth, wiping the grease from her hands. She grinned as she listened to Like a Boss play away. It made it only too obvious who was calling.

She made sure her hands were clean before picking up, "Hello, Optimus."

"_Hello, Mikaela. I must apologize, but I fear that there is no time for asking after you right now. There has been an increase of Decepticon activity, and I am worried. The Allspark?"_

"Safe. Not on me, but I know the general area of where it is."

There was a slight pause on the other end, and she tried not to grin again. "_The general area?_"

"The general area." She echoed, allowing herself to grin. In the back ground she could here a mouse trap snap, and her dog bark. "Oh, hold on, a mouse just got caught."

"_Mikaela, wai-"_

She set the phone down, and got up, going over to the sound of where the mouse trap had been set. She didn't like getting rid of them, so she'd normally take a broom and brush them against the wall so her dad could do it later.

She stopped when she heard loud Cybertronian cussing, mixed with English.

"What kind of pit forsaken house of horrors is this place?"

She grabbed one of the blow torches, and ever so carefully climbed up on one of the work benches. She peered over the edge, coming face to face with a tiny Decepticon. They both jerked back in surprise.

"DECEPTICON!"

"ORGANIC!"

* * *

><p>Mrs. Figueroa looked at the two teens her baby, Jorge, had brought with him. She didn't know much about the giant alien robots her son always went on about, but she could only guess that the two with him did.<p>

Much to the delight of the two teens, Mrs. Figueroa lived far back in the middle of no where, for the most part. There was a little town three miles to the east, but you had to cross the river to get there on a bridge. Neither of them had been in this type of area before, and were more than excited to enjoy it now.

"Mamá, saluda Sam y Miles." Fig said, and both teens could guess a rough estiment of what he said. Mom, say hello to Sam and Miles. That was some of the easiest Spanish that they had ever heard Fig speak.

She grinned, "Hola, boys. Just call me Mamá Fig."

* * *

><p>Miles peered over the edge of the boat down into the brown murky water they were floating on. "Mamá, are there really gators in here?"<p>

"Of course, hijo!" Mamá Fig replied, her attention on Sam at the moment. The poor boy's stomach apparently didn't agree with being on a boat.

"At least whatever he up chucks will attract the gators." Fig snickered, causing Sam to groan.

That was when Sam's phone went off, and both Fig and Miles laughed.

"Sweet Little Bumblebee, seriously dude?" Miles grinned, grabbing Sam's phone as Sam glared at him. It wasn't hard to guess who was calling if it was that ring tone. He answered it, "Hey sweet little Bee!"

He then jerked the phone away from his ear in surprise. Bumblebee was extremely loud. Sam smirked at his friend, "Oops, did I forget to mention Bee can be a little loud?"

Fig laughed, Mamá Fig rolled her eyes, and Miles gave his best friend a sour look. The teen held the phone far enough away that if Bumblebee was loud it wouldn't hurt, but so he could still hear the Autobot. He talked for a bit.

* * *

><p>"Don't tell me you can't pull this off." A sniding tone rang in the audios of a mech, and he looked at his long time friend with sad optics.<p>

"Why is there need to? Can we not leave them be and find some other source? The matrix, perhaps?"

A snort. "Did you glitch your processor? Megatron is the one who wants to kill Prime. We touch him and there's no way out."

"Why do we still fight? The Allspark is gone."

A sneer. "You are weak sparked, my friend. If we do not, the Autobots will kill us. They are ruthless in their treatment of us!"

He had been told a lot of the Autobots by now. They sounded horrible, like monsters. A story a Creator would tell their sparkling to get the little one to behave for the night. The mech couldn't believe that Cybertronians like that could actually exist. But here his friend was, telling him all these awful stories of death and painful deactivation.

He couldn't understand how they had fallen so far.

* * *

><p>"Well?" Barricade asked.<p>

Bumblebee sighed, "Fig said he borrowed one of the trackers."

"Tracker?" Will stood on Ironhide's shoulder, looking at Bumblebee.

"It has the ability to tell us of the incoming of any registered Cybertronian. Neutral, Autobot, or Decepticon." Ironhide informed, cleaning one of his cannons.

Of course, it wasn't perfect. The one Blaster had caught the seeker on, one they knew only as Decepticon, had been piggy backing on an Earth satellite. The one Fig had wasn't nearly as good, and would only be able to do so if they were within a three to five mile radius, _if_ there was a satellite close enough to bounce the signal off of. Optimus had sent one of their own, tiny, and extremely basic satellites to follow the trio so they'd always be in distance of one.

"So it has a blind spot?"

"No, it covers all three of the factions."

"But what if they're not under any of the three? I mean, wouldn't it be impossible to track down every single Cybertronian and wrangle a response out of them?"

The three Cybertronians looked at the tiny organic in surprise. Bumblebee and Ironhide thought about this for a moment. There was a lot they had registered on the trackers, more than would ever be able to fit on the planet of Earth. A lot had died too, but Optimus had just recently said to let the dead pop up as well, since Jazz had died and then came back. It didn't actually seem possible that they could have missed someone, Cybertron was very up to date with her data. But then again...

Ironhide sent Prowl a comm message. _:We need you to give us the statistic probability on something.:_

* * *

><p>"Fig, what the hell is that?"<p>

A pause as the soldier looked to find out what Sam was talking about.

"¡Ay Dios mio! What _is _that?"

They looked up at the sky. They being Sam, Fig, and Miles. The trio was outside, Mamá Fig having gone in to start cooking the gator meat awhile ago. The soldier and the two teens had been enjoying watching the sunset as they sat on the porch, drinking their root beers and talking about this and that.

Fig checked his tracker, but nothing came up. This relieved him, but worried him at the same time.

"Slag! A plane is crashing!" He stuck his head in the door, "Mamá, call the hospital! We got a plane headin' down!"

Miles and Sam were already running closer to the plane that was taking a nose dive to the ground. Fig yelled at them to wait, and was chasing after them. He was pulling out his cell phone to take a picture, just when he ran into Sam's back.

"Sam, what th-"

Fig looked at what the boys were looking at, and his stomach dropped. The plane had pulled out of it's sharp nose dive, and was now landing safely on the ground. The plane disappeared from sight behind a set of trees, and they all waited.

After a moment they could hear the loud thump of footsteps, and Fig stepped in front of the two teens, pulling out his gun. A good soldier always had one on him. He held it aloft, "Get to Mamá!"

Sam and Miles scrambled backward just as the largest Cybertronian they had ever seen came into view, wearing the Decepticon symbol. Fig fired, but the mech didn't even seem to notice. Instead, he leaned down, and slammed his hand on the ground directly in front of the two teens, effectively stopping their mad dash for the house. He then grabbed them, continued to ignore Fig, took a few steps back, and transformed.

Fig chased after for a bit, but there was nothing he could do. It was the biggest damned seeker he had ever seen, and that meant the mech could fly.

"Mamá, call the base!"

* * *

><p>Sam and Miles sat side by side, looking around them warily. There was a lot of stuff inside the Decepticon, like buttons and switches. It looked like he had scanned an Earth plain, but altered it just a bit to make it fit him better. They sat on the ground even though there was seats. According to Miles watch they had been in the mech for all of five minutes.<p>

Suddenly a holoform appeared, startling the both of them. Sam openly glared at the tall human look alike, while Miles just looked. Light grey hair and deep grey eyes. It reminded him of storm clouds, and he opened his mouth to say so. Sam shot him a look, but it was already too late. Miles was a talker, so he told the mech what he thought.

Surprisingly enough to both boys, the holoform looked pleased.

"Oh, yes! I thought your planet's storm clouds were quite interesting, and I liked how they looked." The voice sounded pleased, too. "I'm happy someone besides me sees it, Starscream didn't get it at all."

Both teens just stared, causing the holoform to sigh.

"I require your cellular devices. They must be destroyed, and I do not wish to harm you in an attempt to get them off you. Starscream would not inform me how I should set my holoform to handle your kind."

They blinked, and then looked at each other. They had expected rough treatment, insults, maybe even pain. Not _this_. The mech seemed nice and polite. Sam slowly got out his cellphone, and handed it to the mech. Miles repeated the action. The two teens watched as the holoform broke the phones. Miles decided it would hurt to talk again.

"I'm Miles, and this is Sam."

"I am Skyfire." The holoform peered at the broken phones curiously, examining what he could.

"New to Earth?" Miles asked, and Sam elbowed him. He really wanted Miles to shut up right about now.

"Yes, well..." Skyfire thought about that, "No. Much like Megatron, I froze under the ice. Starscream revived me."

"Oh." Well now they knew who had been flying around in the Arctic circle and why. The two watched silently as Skyfire finished his examination of their now broken phones. He then smiled at them.

"Please, sit, buckle up." Skyfire said pleasantly, "I would not wish to hurt you if it is necessary for me to perform any advanced aerial acrobatics."

* * *

><p><em>Tranquility<em>

Mikaela set Wheelie down on the table, before picking up her phone again.

"_Mikaela, Mikaela? Is everything okay? What happened?"_

"I just had a small infestation." She sneered at the tiny Decepticon, "Nothing I couldn't handle."

Wheelie snarled, but other wise did nothing. He had already learned that talking back to the organic was a bad idea. One of his optics was completely taken out, and he had a good few dents. He hadn't expected the organic femme to be this tough.

"_The Allspark shard?_"

"Safe at the bottom of the lake." Mikaela said, before realizing her mistake.

"_Mikaela!"_

"You're hot, but you ain't too bright!" Wheelie was already contacting Starscream. The human femme may have been tougher than he was expecting, but she was also stupider than he had thought.


	41. Fake death

**AN: **_Wanted to update and I have to be at school in less than 20 mins! Haha, so no reviews, sorry! But thanks to everyone who did so, especially the new people! Here's the update!_

* * *

><p>Miles was tired, leaning back against the rock wall. He stared dully at the metal bars in front of him. Completely and utterly plain, definitely not meant to deter even a Sparkling like Orion, but for a human, it was enough. He counted them to give himself something to do, coming up with exactly 28. He was stuck in a cell, a small one when he considered Sam should be there too. In a cave, with an unpleasant floor, unpleasant lighting, and well… it was definitely not a five star hotel.<p>

He was tired, and he was certain he'd probably go insane. Starscream had taken Sam first, though to where, Miles had no idea. All he knew was his fellow teen was taken, and that was that. He couldn't hear anything, anyone, and all he had to go by was the light drifting in from the outside of the cave. Eventually that faded away, and he could only see because of the faint moonlight shining in. Having no phone and no watch, he could only guess at how many hours it had been.

He tried to keep up with anything new happening, and make sure he knew his surroundings, but that wasn't hard at all. There was _nothing_ new happening. He hadn't heard anything besides the wind, the occasional animal, and maybe the trees rustling. As for his surroundings, well, there wasn't much. He could just about stand up at the cave ceiling's highest point with a small tilt to either side with his head, and at the lowest he had to drop his neck down a bit. The actual cave itself could barely be called that. The cell was put in just far enough that he couldn't see outside, but besides that there was nothing other than the bars to keep the prisoners in a certain place. And even then he could remember that trying to escape would most likely be a suicide mission. He was no mountain climber.

To make matters worse, he was actually afraid. Shockwave was there, and he knew what that particular mech was capable of. He was more scared for Sam at the moment, but he wasn't certain how long that would last.

It's not like he wasn't man enough to admit that Shockwave was probably the only Decepticon he was actually scared of. Yet, anyway. He hadn't been introduced to many. Barricade, Soundwave, and the cassetticons didn't seem to help with that, either. They had no problem with telling stories of some of the stupider things that had happened in Decepticon downtime.

Miles couldn't even reach anyone. He had tried, but he could only go so far, and that was ignoring the ones that were in range. Only one of them felt okay, and he didn't know who, but he wasn't taking the chance. The last thing he needed was to pop on to a comm channel with Starscream, or even worse, _Shockwave,_ and be too scared to terminate the connection.

And then there was Skyfire. The mech seemed nice, polite, and not like he wanted to fight at all. He didn't seem to fit in with the Decepticons, and had even yelled at Starscream when he had flicked Sam over after they arrived. But he wasn't on Miles' side, and the teen wasn't sure if he could trust him or not. This wasn't the same as Barricade, even though that had been a shot in the dark. It probably hadn't been one of his brightest ideas to try to befriend a talking and growling vehicle, but hey, he was happy he had now. He couldn't even imagine his life without the ex-con now, or even the others.

All the teen had to do was think, because he wasn't ready to start talking to himself just yet, so he did that. He thought. This led to him dozing off, and he only woke up when he heard the heavy thud of a Cybertronian's footsteps. Two sets of them. Standing up, stretching awkwardly, he stood at attention, squinting into the darkness. He was relieved when it was Skyfire who appeared, sticking a servo in with his holoform and Sam on it. This mech was bigger than Optimus Prime, and the cave was smaller than Bumblebee. Miles didn't want to think about him getting stuck.

"Put the _boy_ in there, Skyfire. Rattle the other one a bit, if you want. Come meet me after." Starscream said, spitting out the word boy with as much hate as possible. His voice drifted in to Miles, causing him to frown.

He couldn't help but be relieved when the Seeker turned and walked away. Skyfire waited until he was sure that Starscream was gone before bothering to move.

His holoform picked up Sam as if he was as light as a bag of feathers, which he probably was to the holoform. That was when Miles finally noticed Sam wasn't awake, and he went to the front of his cell immediately.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked worriedly, "Why's he not awake?"

Skyfire's holoform looked at him sadly, "I apologize, I do not know. When Starscream and Shockwave tried to capture the Allspark energy contained inside of him they came close to drawing it out, but then he offlined. He has been unresponsive to anything since."

He opened up the cell door, and put Sam inside gently, letting Miles look over his friend. Miles did just that, trying to get a response from his friend in the process. He couldn't even garner a groan after pinching his arm.

Miles looked up, opening his mouth to say something, but the holoform had already disappeared, and the large servo was withdrawing.

He closed it again, suddenly doubting once more. Could Skyfire be trusted? The only one he knew for a fact he could trust was Sam, and the teen was out. And he had a feeling that he wouldn't be waking up for awhile. He wasn't hurt, or at least Miles didn't think so. He had a feeling. He didn't know how or why, but all he could do was hope that it was right. A feeling that said he wasn't hurt, just asleep so that the energy couldn't be accessed through him. That was the only thing he could bring himself to believe. With Skyfire, be he friend or foe, all he could do was hope.

* * *

><p>The entire drive back to base had been enough for Fig to hate on himself. He had lost both Sam and Miles, two of the most important members of the NEST organics. They weren't soldiers, but they definitely belonged there. The two teens had taken on the roles of moral supporters, able to bring anyone amusement. Even Barricade, though that was mostly Miles' jurisdiction.<p>

The boys had went missing near nightfall on Tuesday. Mikaela had blabbed on the whereabouts of the shard late afternoon of Wednesday, and now it was nearly Wednesday night.

Fig was afraid, and he had good reason to be. On top of the two teens just being fragging awesome, they were the Charge's of two Cybertronians. Bumblebee and Barricade. He didn't want to even imagine what they would say to him, or wouldn't say. He had let them down. He had let everyone down.

As he got out of his non-sentient car, he noticed the base was oddly silent. No booms coming from the lab, or the firing range. No loud music, laughter, or any such thing coming from the cafeteria or either rec-rooms. It was quiet and subdued on base, and almost everyone was inside at the time.

Resigning himself to whatever his fate may be, he entered a building, heading to the meeting room. He took a deep breath just before entering, and then opened the door. All optics and eyes immediately locked on him like lasers guarding a prized diamond. Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz, Bumblebee, Barricade, Soundwave, Ravage, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Trailbreaker. Will, Epps, and Graham.

"Hi." He muttered, feeling as if he ought to say something in the quiet.

* * *

><p>Trent had been sleeping when his phone rang, and he reached to grab it from his night stand, knocking it to the floor instead. Groaning, he slipped out of bed and retrieved it, knowing it might be at least a little important. Miles and Sam had went missing early Tuesday night. It was now officially Thursday.<p>

He knew Miles and Sam had gone missing, and figured just maybe they had been found by now. He did hold the opinion that they were targeted entirely too much, but then again he didn't have that weird Allspark energy thing going on. On top of that, he hadn't been around the Cybertronians nearly as long.

"What?" He greeted roughly, not bothering with a hello.

"_Dude, you'll never believe this! There was just a huge military jet right over the lake! Like legit, dude!_"

Trent rubbed at one of his eyes, glancing at the time on the screen. "Jared, it's fucking 2 a.m. Are you high again? What the hell would a military jet be doing in Tranquility?"

"_Check the news! It like, suctioned shit out of the water. Remember that football we lost in there? Up it went!_"

Trent muttered a 'hold on', going to check the news and watching the footage. A military jet in Tranquility, hovering over a lake and sucking things out of the water. That was definitely not normal. He didn't need to see the Decepticon symbol on the wing to be able to guess who it was. He had heard the 'bots talking about him before.

Starscream was right there, on the news. But why? What had he been after?

"Jar-" He cut himself off, hearing a beep. The sign of another call, and he read the name. Mikaela. "I'll call you back later, I got another call." He hung up on Jared, answering Mikaela's call instead.

"_Trent? I didn't wake you, did I?_"

"No, Jared did that. Is this about Starscream being on the news?" He asked, cutting to the chase. No need for formalities, it was 2 a.m. and he doubted this was just a chatting call.

"_He was getting the Allspark shard. I had… well… I screwed up, Trent. Now they have the shard, Miles, and Sam._"

Trent could barely pick up on the tiniest of quivers in her voice.

"You're not about to cry are you?" No answer, and that was the surest sign that she was about to. It was time to man up, "Bunny, you know they'll be okay. Maybe a bit banged up, but honestly, I think those glitches will take one look at Mama Bee and Mama Bear and go running with their tails in between their legs. I know Barricade can do shit. He got my car towed for giving Miles that black eye, before I even knew about them. Slagger would still probably do it if I messed with Miles."

A small snort came from the other end of the line. "_It's just… what if they aren't okay?_"

"No if's when it comes to those two, Bunny. They're too annoying to die."

* * *

><p>Trent and Mikaela arrived at the NEST base after breakfast that day, heading immediately to the meeting room. It seemed that the room had been getting almost constant use since the kidnapping, and talk of the shard being taken had to have made it's way back to them by now.<p>

They stepped in together to see the usual faces. Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, Trailbreaker, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Bumblebee, Barricade, and Soundwave. Fig, Epps, Will, and Graham. Epps and Will were sitting closer together on the table than usual, both looking a bit forlorn. They were barely able to sit down before Bumblebee had turned on the two soldiers.

"Spill." He demanded, and everyone looked at the two as well. They had been the ones to call this meeting.

Epps and Will looked between each other, neither wanting to be the one to say anything.

"We can't feel Sam anymore." Will said softly, avoiding looking at Bumblebee. "It's just... empty where he was. It's not like we can feel emotions, or how close, or how far they are. Just that they are there, the connection's still there. Miles is there, but Sam isn't."

"Do you know what that means?" Optimus asked, even though everyone around the table could take a guess.

"Only an assumption, it's not like we're experts at this whole thing." Epps said, looking straight at Bumblebee. But the Scout was already wilting.

* * *

><p>Miles felt sick to his stomach from the gruesome scene he had just watched, and taken part in. He looked at the floor, which just moments ago had appeared to be covered in blood. He ignored both the holoforms in the small cave with him.<p>

"Good, very good." Starscream practically purred, "Now we can send them this tape. The Autobots will never know any better. Your invention was wonderful, Skyfire."

"Thank you, Starscream." Skyfire replied, out of pure politeness. He didn't like how it had been used.

Starscream walked into the cell, reaching down to touch a still slumbering Sam. His hand was knocked away by Miles, and he smirked. "You did good, boy. He'll be allowed to live, for now. Megatron would want to be the one to kill him anyway."

It was one of those rare moments where Miles chose to say nothing. It was safer.

"Mark my words, though. We will go over that tape, and if you did anything funny to alert them, I will not hesitate to hurt him."

And with that Starscream's holoform disappeared, Skyfire's following suit.

Miles sat down, feeling horrible. Everyone, everymech, at base was going to see the video. _Bumblebee_ was going to see the video. The Scout would be devastated, especially since Miles played along. But what else could he have done? Starscream had threatened to kill Sam if he didn't. He had to protect his friend.

He cursed Skyfire's invention. Making holoforms so much more realistic. They could bleed, they could have broken bones, muscles, tissue, all of that showing. At one point even Miles had almost been convinced it was real, but Sam was still beside him. Still breathing.

They were all going to think Sam was dead. He knew Will and Epps probably thought that. If he couldn't feel Sam from right beside him, he knew they couldn't either.

* * *

><p>They watched the video when it came in, all of them. Mikaela, Trent, Epps, Will, Fig, and Graham had stayed in the room, too.<p>

Sam had been tore apart in front of their eyes by Starscream and some mech called Skyfire, with a screaming Miles in the back ground. The video had ended just after Sam died, and no one said anything.

Mikaela had broken down into tears, and everyone else looked sick. Bumblebee got up and left the room.


	42. The REM cycle

**AN: **_I love you guys, so I'm going to be uploading like three chapters in one day. This will be 42, and I'm almost done with 43!_

_**Reviews: **_Thanks to_ Jacqueline Walker, anonybot, Iwanita, Fk306 animelover, OrianPrime92, mrsharrypotter, Noella50881, Manga154, shadow-dog18, writergurl616, and 3xX-BOTDF-Xx3 _for reviewing!  
><strong>Devil-O-Angel:<strong> Okay, I really, _really,_ hope you see this! I was going to PM you, but you have that disabled. If you go back and re-read, I do have a paragraph that goes through Miles' powers. The only ones within range are Decepticons, and that wouldn't really do him any good. Not to mention it could just get him in trouble if they did find out about his powers.

_**Chapter 42  
>The REM cycle<strong>_

* * *

><p>It wasn't too surprising that Bumblebee had processed nearly a million ways to get Miles back, and Sam's body, in the hour it took Ironhide and Ratchet to find him and drag him back to base. The young Scout had turned from cheerful and friendly to murderous, and that was a scary sight.<p>

Only one idea, which had been one of the few that didn't involve dead Decepticons everywhere, was accepted. They would go down and place a small inside one of Megatron's optics, that would act like a video camera. It would show them whatever they wanted for awhile, but it would be found eventually. There was no hiding it entirely.

Ravage had been the one sent down to do it, his first official mission on the Autobot side.

By the time everything was done it was Monday, and it had nearly been a week since the two went missing. Several days since they got the video that should not be mentioned.

Ever since then it was like Bumblebee had lost his vocalisor again. He talked more through the radio and the comm link, rarely if ever using the radio. He tended to avoid the humans, and snapped at any 'bot who was being too comforting. He knew better than to go off completely. Ratchet would have him in stasis in five seconds flat.

* * *

><p>Barricade drove up beside Bumblebee, the Scout already in his alt mode. He had snuck off base again, and appeared to be recharging, but the ex-con knew better. Though he didn't understand why he had been sent to retrieve the insect at all. But Optimus had asked, and Ratchet had grabbed the heaviest wrench he could find.<p>

"Ratchet threatened me." No point lying about it, he doubted that the Autobot would actually think he had come out on his own, anyway.

"_I reached for you this morning, and woke up with empty arms._"

Barricade took a moment to decipher those song lyrics. It was obvious they weren't literal, but it was easy enough to figure out what he was referring to. When a mech, or femme, became a Guardian they could always find their Charge with a simple scan if they were in a reasonable distance. Despite how many people were on base, Bumblebee would be able to find his Charge in a split second if absolutely necessary. That type of scan did take a bit more effort, though, and was avoided from being used often.

And waking up, a Guardian tended to do it without thinking. Just a natural response to locate their Charge, and make sure they were okay all in the same step. Barricade himself had done it a couple of times after the whole Shockwave fiasco, though he'd never admit to it.

"What song is that?" He asked. Bumblebee would know he understood what it had meant.

:_Love Lives On by Mallary Hope._: The Scout responded, sending him the song in a databurst.

Barricade took a moment to listen to the song.

"Primus." He muttered before he could stop himself, "You are such a fragging sap."

That little slip up left his audials ringing with the response Bumblebee had. He didn't even realize that there were so many cusswords in the English and Cybertronian language when combined. He sunk down on his wheels, glaring off into the distance.

"It could be fake. I wouldn't put it past them."

"It didn't look fake."

"Neither do our holoforms. Maybe someone got smart."

"Smart enough to trick Miles?"

"Could be he didn't know it wasn't actually Sam."

"Then why don't Epps and Will feel him anymore?"

Frag. Barricade had nothing for that one, but he still didn't think it had been real. He was the only one to have doubts about it, and that didn't help.

"They would have killed both of them to deal a heavier blow if it had been real, insect."

"Or Shockwave wanted Miles as a socket."

Silence, and Bumblebee cursed himself. Barricade was actually trying to remain positive, even just slightly, while Bumblebee was practically swimming in negative. It was like their roles had been reversed, and the Scout doubted that Barricade had even given Shockwave a thought. They hadn't heard anything about him since the escape from Canada, and the ex-con had probably figured he was still licking his wounds.

"_I still make two cups of coffee, and tell you all about my day._"

A growl. "I'm going to hurt you."

Barricade didn't make a single move to actually do so, and Bumblebee pulled out an entire playlist of sad and depressing songs. They both sat there and listened to them in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

><p>"Skyfire, how many days has it been?" Miles asked, looking at the holoform that had started to become so familiar. Most of the time he was alone, not counting Sam since the teen hadn't woken up once, and he was literally going stir crazy.<p>

Nothing to do besides talk and think, sleep and eat. The only good thing about being given Energon instead of actual human food was that it seemed to cut down on any waste, by a lot. He didn't want to think about how Starscream'd get a kick out of taking him out for a walk to use the potty. It would be awful.

Time just blurred together. He had no watch, no phone, nothing but the light outside of the cave. One day blurred into the next.

"It has now been a week and three days." The holoform replied, shifting to look at the teen ever so slightly.

A week and three days. Tuesday night, through Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. One week. Then Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday again. Primus, Miles couldn't tell if it seemed like a shorter stay, or a longer one.

"Where are we?"

Skyfire said nothing, looking at the teen wearily. He knew Starscream would be mad if they gave too much away.

Miles sighed, "Does it honestly look like I can contact anyone like this?"

Communication powers aside, as they were useless. By now Miles had figured out who the only safe feeling was, Skyfire, and even that was iffy. Probably because he couldn't decide what side the mech was on concerning them, or not.

"No, but it is still best that I say nothing."

Miles stayed quiet, leaning against the wall closest to Sam and checking on his friend once more. As far as Miles could tell he was in a type of coma, and was showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. Which made it worse and better on Miles. He didn't want his best friend finding out about the video, and being left to think about what Bumblebee would have done after seeing it.

Miles had a lot of time to think how Bumblebee would have reacted. How Mikaela, Judy, Optimus, and all of them would have acted. He could just imagine how worried his parents would be, and wondered if his amazing half siblings would be let in on the situation as well. They all already knew about the Cybertronians, anyway.

* * *

><p>Miles woke up to the sound of Starscream and Skyfire talking, and pretended to still be asleep. An actual scan would easily reveal he was awake, but he doubted either would do so, and neither were paying attention anyway.<p>

"Skyfire, we leave you to watch the pathetic fleshlings. Try to wake up the one, Megatron will want a good long look at him when we get back." Starscream, a grin clearly heard in his voice.

"Must you all go? Miles asked me where we were earlier. I did not respond."

"Of course. You do not need us to watch these two. And that was wise of you. Just turn off your audials if the one talks, and ignore them completely. Feed them at least once a day."

"You won't let Megatron hurt Sam, will you?"

A laugh that sent a shiver down Miles spine, despite how cliché it was even to him. "Oh, of course not, my darling Skyfire. Why would Lord Megatron ever want to hurt it?"

* * *

><p>"Skyfire."<p>

No response. Miles tried again louder. He could tell everyone else had left. Still no response. All Skyfire had said to him was that he should drink his energon, and Miles had ignored it.

"SKYFIRE!" A scream, and not so much as a twitch of the helm. The mech wasn't looking at him, and had apparently actually turned his audials off.

Miles looked at Sam sadly. He was afraid to risk letting anyone know of his communication capabilities, even if it was a sure fire bet that the one he would be comming was the mech sitting in front of him. He appeared to be on Starscream's side, and if Miles couldn't convince him, what then? He would tell Starscream, and something might be done about it. He might even be killed just as a precaution, and he couldn't leave Sam on his own.

:_Skyfire!:_ Oops, that had been louder than he meant it to be. He watched Skyfire jump, which would have been amusing if he knew the mech was friend or foe, and turn wide and amazed optics on him.

:_You can access or comm links?_:

:_Yeah._:

:_How?_:

:_Get us out of here, and you can do all the tests you want to find out._: Miles was playing out to his scientist side. He had seen just how obsessed the mech could be about things, he was worse than Wheeljack. And thankfully with no explosions.

:_I can not do that. Starscream will be returning with Megatron soon._:

:_You know as well as I do as soon as Megatron gets here, we're screwed!_:

:_They are not the Autobots. They don't kill for fun._:

Miles gaped up at the biggest mech he had ever had the displeasure of seeing. :_Yo-Who the hell told you that?_:

:_Starscream. He told me all about what the Autobots have done._:

:_He's lying! Some of the 'bots might have done less than pleasant things, but so have some of the Decepticons. But only Decepticons seem to want to harm a fragging sparkling._:

:_A what?_: Disbelief was heavy in those two words that entered Miles' mind. Skyfire hadn't seen a sparkling in a very long time.

:_A sparkling. Orion. We saved him, and then he was kidnapped to be tested on. Allspark energy had to be used to do so, and Shockwave wanted to find out how even if that meant killing him. That's why we have Soundwave now. He contacted me, and I got Sam, and then we pretended to be captured so we could provide a good enough distraction until we could get Orion out. He said he even had clearance from Starscream, leader while Megatron is dead._:

:_That's impossible! Starscream would never give anyone permission to harm anything!_:

:_You obviously know a different Starscream, then._:

Miles got no response, and he tried to think of something to do. It took him a minute to actually think of trying to compose a databurst, and he was reluctant to do so after what had happened after he recieved one from Jazz. He had gotten so much energy. Would he lose a lot if he sent instead of received?

He took a moment to pray to Primus that he could actually do it, and that he wouldn't be affected until after everything was over and done with. Then he gathered his thoughts and memories.

Meeting Barricade, then foolishly standing up to Ironhide, going to the base for the first time and meeting everyone and everymech there. Going to get Jazz, including the Soundwave and cassetticons bit. He balanced that out with going to save Orion, showing everything he went through, and then having Soundwave and the cassetticons now on their side. He gathered a lot of different funny memories, and silly ones. Serious, happy, and sad. The peanuts, the gnomes, taking Barricade to see his siblings, meeting Blurr, being safe in Canada and realizing Barricade had actually became his Guardian, Ratchet installing the tickling protocals, and so many more things. A lot with Orion in it, a lot with Ironhide and Ratchet, Optimus and Bumblebee, Epps and Will. He showed footage he had seen from Mission City, especially of Megatron taunting Sam and saying he'd make a good pet.

He focused, and did his best to send it all to Skyfire. He heard the mech gasp, and could only assume he was going through everything. Meanwhile, Miles went to a corner of the cell and grabbed the energon he had ignored earlier. He chugged it down, and that barely helped, so he sat down and waited. Doing the data burst had taken a lot of energy, and on top of that it gave him a pounding headache. Even his muscles felt tired, not sore, just tired. Like they had been constantly doing something, but it wasn't exactly strenuous. He sent one more thing, even though now it took so much more effort.

:_Please._:

* * *

><p>They watched for as long as they could. Megatron being revived, taken out of the ocean and taking out a submarine while doing so. And then they tried to find landmarks, places they could easily use to pinpoint which way the Decepticon base was.<p>

Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz, Bumblebee, Prowl, Barricade, Epps and Will watched everything, having a large map at the ready and marking anything down that they could.

It worked for a few hourse, but then Hook found the camera, and it was destroyed. Prowl looked at the map, before shaking his head. For all they knew, the base could still be far from where they were. All it gave was a general direction. They had very little to go off of.

Bumblebee and Barricade said nothing.

* * *

><p>Starscream returned to base, feeling smug. Everything was going perfectly. Skyfire was awake, and doing everything he said. He had two of the souces of Allspark energy, one of them being the human that Megatron would hate the most. He had even found some energon for the hatchlings, and had sent it to them and the Fallen.<p>

He looked around, and didn't see Skyfire. He ignored Megatron, who headed immediately to the base. Instead he went to find his old friend, wondering what he had wondered off to investigate this time. Maybe the moss growing on the trees, or a new type of mineral he had discovered.

"Starscream."

He halted immediately when he heard Megatron's voice. That was the tone he had come to recognize as Megatron's scariest, and even he feared getting Megatron so mad that he got that one.

"Yes, oh great Lord Megatron?"

"They're gone."

Starscream felt his spark drop. That meant Skyfire had betrayed him. He couldn't believe it. How could he?

He heard the sound of Megatron's feet coming towards him, and he turned to face his punishment with a scathing remark.

All the other Decepticons just went around doing their duties. They were used to this by now, it was one of the only routine things among them.

* * *

><p>Miles woke up slowly, and took a moment to stretch in his seat. He hadn't slept so comfortably for awhile, let alone so deeply, but he was still really tired. It was taking ages for his brain to catch up with what was going on, and he felt extremely groggy.<p>

"It is nice to see you awake, Miles. You have been sleeping for 3.25 hours, and you entered what your species calls the REM cycle for 1.5 of those hours. Your eyes did move extremely rapidly during that time, even when I had the eyelid lifted."

Miles stared at the controls in front of him, where the voice was coming from. He seemed to be sitting in the Captain's chair, and just off to the side he could see another chair leaned back with Sam laying in it strapped down. He could remember finishing convincing Skyfire, and then going down. He could only assume they'd escaped and had been flying since then. It had only been 3.25 hours.

His mind wanted to focus on the fact that Skyfire had been touching him while he slept. Now that was disturbing, and to make it worse he had actually slept through it. But was he really going to complain about it when it was just a natural curiosity, and he had basically saved his and Sam's lives? No way.

"That's why it's called REM, dude. Rapid Eye Movement."

"Indeed. Can you point out where the Autobot base is on the map I pull up?"

Above the control panel had been a window, and Miles could see sky. But then the image of a map of Nevada took it's place. He reached out, and found he could enlarge it on his own. A giant alien touch screen.

"Uhm, it's in a this way direction." He found Tranquility and went South-west a few miles. "Driving at normal speeds it takes about an hour or so to get there. It's in the desert, in a no fly zone, so it should be easy to spot."

"Right."

Miles watched the map disappear, and looked out at the clouds. Then he peered behind him and just saw what looked like a cargo hold. Skyfire must have been changing around the interior. He yawned, and stretched.

"Skyfire? Do you think you can find anywhere to land far enough away to not be noticed, but close enough so that I don't have to walk a long way to a store or a hotel or something?"

"I believe so. Give me a moment."

Miles grinned, leaning back and allowing himself to relax. It didn't take long at all for him to fall asleep again. Skyfire didn't bother to wake him, scans saying that he needed the recharge.

Not even ten minutes later he woke up because of Sam's scream.


	43. Flying upside down

**AN:** _Chapter 43~_

* * *

><p>He had finally calmed Sam down, explaining everything to his best friend, and helping unstrap him from the seat. Skyfire said he only did that in case Sam might roll off.<p>

"How long have we been gone?" Sam asked, now sitting in the chair next to Miles, up right and awake for the first time in awhile.

"Skyfire?" Miles asked.

"This would be one week and four days. Miles has requested that we land so he may go to buy some new clothes and washing implements, as well as food. We can all recharge then, and resume tomorrow. We should arrive at base early in the morning."

Miles nodded, "So I'd say you've been out for basically a week and three days." He frowned. "And I still can't feel you, yet."

"Feel me?" Sam asked, confused.

"When you conked out your presence just disappeared from mine. Can you feel us?"

Sam thought, "Now that you mention it, no." Which was odd. He hadn't really noticed that he could feel the others before, but being able to not feel them was extremely noticeable.

"I believe it may be because the Allspark energy inside of you went into hiding." Skyfire said, scanning Sam again to recheck. "It's still there, but I can barely sense it."

"So they all probably think you're still dead. Fuck."

"Wait, what?" Sam stared at his friend, "When did I die?"

Skyfire explained his improvement of the holoform, and then Miles explained what Starscream had video taped, and how he had played along convincingly because of the threat of Sam actually being killed. Skyfire even showed how graphic it could be, but kept it light. The last thing he wanted was either purging inside of him.

"Oh, poor Bee." Sam frowned, worried. How would his Guardian react?

Miles snorted, "More like poor Starscream if Bee ever gets ahold of him."

* * *

><p>A team had been sent out to search for the base. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Blaster, Trailbreaker, Ironhide, Blurr, Wheeljack, and First Aid. Inferno, Jazz, Skids and Mudflap had followed as back up. They would find the landmarks seen in the short amount of video they had captured, and try to find it that way. This meant that the base had few mechs still on it.<p>

Bumblebee and Barricade had been kept behind, and both were currently being avoided. Apart they were bad enough, but they were actually sticking together, and radiating anger and murderous intent. To the grown Cybertronians, anyway. Little Orion didn't mind at all.

Orion had been showing amazing development. He had already picked out his own names for everybody. It was one of the first things he had learned to do, though he couldn't actually talk. Just bable in sparkling speak with the occasional name sticking out.

Optimus was 'O', Trailbreaker was 'Ail', First Aid was 'Aid', Ratchet was 'it', Ironhide was 'Ide', Blurr was 'Bluh', Prowl was 'Owl', Barricade was 'Cay', Bumblebee was 'Bee', Sunstreaker was 'Eak', Sideswipe was 'Ipe', and there was others for the remaining Cybertronians. Will was 'Ill', Epps was 'Eep', Sam was 'Sa', Miles was 'Mi', Graham was 'Am', and Fig was 'Ig'.

Ratchet had determined that both of the upset Guardians needed some Sparkling therapy, and had dropped Orion on them and gave them babysitting duty.

Orion beat on his ped with a dollie that Sarah had made for him, looking up at Cay and Bee with bright optics. He knew something was wrong, everymech on base felt upset, but he couldn't figure out why.

He then realized that two of his favorite humans, the teens who always fed him energon goodies, weren't around. Mi and Sa always went with Cay and Bee. _Always._ It was a rule of his little world, one that had yet to change. Except for now.

He twisted this way and that, craning his little helm to look for them. Where they playing hide and seek? That game was always fun.

"What do you suppose he's looking for?" Bumblebee asked, glancing at Barricade. The ex-con just shrugged.

Orion looked up at the two, "Sa? Mi?"

Both looked at the sparkling with wide optics, not knowing what else to do. There was nothing they could do, Sam and Miles weren't there.

* * *

><p>Optimus Prime looked down at the two humans and his fellow Cybertronian with weary optics. "Are you sure you want to..." He trailed off, trying to think of something better to say, but couldn't. "Keep him?"<p>

"Big guy, it's not like he's a threat-" She started to say.

"I resent that!" Wheelie scowled up at the Warrior Goddess.

"-And he likes me. He's cute, too."

Trent snorted, "He humped your leg, Bunny. I'd say he definitely _likes_ you."

Optimus vented softly, lifting his hand to rub away an imaginary head ache. Mikaela had captured Wheelie, and brought the tiny Decepticon to base. He had claimed Decepticon Neutrality, and had allowed Ratchet to turn off his communication relays, as well as any weapons he may have. Though the weapons had been second priority.

And now it seemed that Mikaela had grown attached to him, and wanted to keep him. That was just great.

Ratchet smirked, looking at all of them. An exasperated leader, one very amused human mech, one hopeful human femme, and a tiny Decepticon Neutral who was torn between excited, crushing hard on an organic, and scared by being around so many Autobots.

"What I'd like to know," Ratchet said, "Is just why it's always the teens bringing the Decepticons to base. Mikaela and Wheelie. Miles and Barricade. Miles, Sam, and Soundwave, though Miles is to mostly blame for that one, too."

* * *

><p>Miles was eyeing all the buttons and other such controls on the control panel. He wondered what they were all for, and what they did. Skyfire noticed.<p>

"Would you like to fly? You can take control of the wheel. I believe it is called a yoke."

Miles and Sam looked at each other with a grin. Neither thought Miles would actually be in control. Barricade had let Millie have control of the steering wheel without it affecting his actual driving course, and that had been included on the video he had shown everyone.

He grabbed the yoke, and not even a minute later he and Sam were screaming in terror.

"I suggest you turn us right side up and pull up." Skyfire said cheerfully, "We're heading towards the ground at a rather fast pace."

Somehow, Miles managed to do that. He wasn't sure if he had actually figured out how to, or if Skyfire was helping, but they were flying normally again after a few heart pounding minutes. He clung on to the yoke so tight his knuckles had turned white.

Sam had simply clung to his seat, screaming at Miles to figure it out and fix it. He was wide eyed and stared disbelievingly at the control.

"Why in the pit would you actually let Miles have control?" He hissed.

"I wanted to see how humans would react in a surprising and stressful situation."

Miles groaned, slumping down in his chair. He was really starting to hate the scientist part of Skyfire.

"Sam, I think I'm going to need major Bearapy when we get back."

"And what about me?"

"Beeapy."

They couldn't hear Skyfire laughing, but they could feel his frame shaking.

* * *

><p>Skyfire had found somewhere to stop for the night, and Miles had walked to a store and bought clothes and washing products. Then he and Sam had bathed in a lake, though neither were going to complain. Luckily enough, Miles had still had his wallet on him. Of course, it wasn't like the Decepticons were interested in money.<p>

After that Sam had fallen asleep, and Skyfire was following soon after. Only Miles was having trouble doing so, worried that somemech may come looking for them and they wouldn't hear in time, and over something else. He couldn't use his special little power anymore. He couldn't even feel a link with Skyfire when he was standing directly beside the mech.

He chalked it down to not being too serious. The databurst had probably taken a lot more out of him than he had originally thought. Maybe he just needed to recharge, even though sleep seemed out of the question.

The only thing he was worried about was when they neared base. He doubted they'd be willing to believe Skyfire right away. He could only hope that he would be recharged by the time that happened.

Maybe he'd go and buy some Monsters. That would give him an energy boost.

* * *

><p>The next morning Miles was excited. It helped that he had a couple Monsters in him, and little sleep. But also because he'd only really had contact with Sam and Skyfire for almost two weeks now. He missed his mechs.<p>

Sam and Miles got in Skyfire, and the mech seemed to fly faster this time around. They came near the base in nearly no time at all. They started out at 8 a.m., and reached a place just a few miles from base at 11:30 a.m.

They could see the base, and then they could see four mechs coming outside of it.

"My communication relays are down, Hook hadn't gotten to them yet. Miles, if you could contact them yourself?" Skyfire asked.

Miles brushed off an imaginary speck of dust, "I can't do that anymore."

"What?" Skyfire and Sam asked in near unison.

"I can't do that anymore. I thought maybe it needed time to come back after the databurst, but I think it's gone completely."

"Like Optimus said?" Sam asked, incredulous. The young Prime had held the belief that they all got a certain power for a reason, one brought through by Primus.

"Yeah." Miles nodded, "Like it was planned that I'd need it."

"Well, that presents a problem, I'm afraid." Skyfire said, tilting slightly to avoid a blast from a plasma cannon.

* * *

><p>"Bumblebee!" Optimus scolded, turning a severe optic on the young Scout. "I said not to shoot yet!"<p>

Bumblebee growled, "That's Skyfire, you can see the Decepticon symbol on his wing!"

"He's here for a reason, Bumblebee."

"Probably to taunt us! He killed Sam!"

Ratchet and Barricade watched as the two went back and forth. Ravage sat at Barricade's peds, watching in rapt amusement. Soundwave and the rest of the cassetticons were inside. Neither said anything until Skyfire was noticeably closer.

"Prime, he's closer." Ratchet said, "No attempts at contacting us. Orders?"

"I say we get out the Dewinger." Bumblebee muttered before Optimus could say anything.

Optimus sighed, "In this case I agree with Bumblebee. He will be harmed, but from that height the fall will not kill him."

The Dewinger was a tiny cicular device with a button at the top. A mech would press the button, throw the device at a Seeker, or anything with wings that was made out of metal, and it would open up, shooting thousands of tiny little barbs sharp enough to pierce the armor. Each barb housed a few different nanobots that specialized in taking out the Seeker's ability to control their own flight.

It had been used to take out a lot of Seekers during the Great War, which is why there are more 'ground pounders' than Seekers now.

Ratchet got out the Dewinger, handing it to Bumblebee silently. Bumblebee pushed the button, and then tossed.

* * *

><p>They had watched Bumblebee throw something, but what it was they weren't sure. Skyfire had grunted when it connected, but otherwise nothing happened. They thought everything was okay until Skyfire's voice drifted out to them.<p>

"I apologize, but you must take control of the yoke. They used the Dewinger."

Miles stared at the control panel in disbelief. Surely the scientist wouldn't be joking about such a thing right now, but it couldn't possibly be true. And then Skyfire started to tilt, diving towards the ground in free fall.

"The landing could possibly kill you. Please do so quickly."

Miles grabbed the yoke, and pulled up hard. They ended up upside down again.

"Miles, I swear to Primus I am having Will teach you how to fly a plane." Sam ground out, trying to keep his breakfast inside his stomach.

"At least we're not crashing into the ground!"

"Incoming shot on the right." Skyfire said helpfully, not sounding the least bit worried.

Miles, however, sent them spinning on accident, but they had avoided the plasma blast.

* * *

><p>They all stared up at Skyfire in disbelief. They had used the Dewinger, and it had appeared to be working. The only reason it wouldn't was if someone else was able to fly the Seeker from the inside.<p>

And whoever it was certainly wasn't trained at flying. They either barely avoided the multiple rounds from Bumblebee's cannon, or ended up shooting farther away than necessary.

The worst part was that when whoever had actually managed to turn Skyfire right side up, they had flown _worse._ Almost immediately the mech was upside down again, and flying better.

"Fire." Optimus finally ordered. Skyfire needed brought down.

All four did so.

* * *

><p>Sam was yelling at Miles, Miles was trying to focus, and Skyfire was trying to be heard over Miles. It was a mess. Now all four were shooting at them, all because Skyfire couldn't talk to them. Miles was having a hard enough time dodging Bumblebee, let alone the extra three.<p>

It was only then Skyfire remembered something. "I believe I may have something that will help."

"You just say this now?" Sam asked, being the only one to hear him. Miles was a lot more focused on making sure Skyfire wasn't hit.

"You try being asleep for as long as I was and see how long it takes your processor to completely reboot." Skyfire muttered defensively just as Miles barely dodged another blast.

"IF YOU KILL US WE'RE GONNA BE DEAD, AND I SWEAR I'M GOING TO COME BACK TO HAUNT YOUR FRAGGING AFT'S!" Miles yelled in frustration and anger, then closed his mouth again when he realized he could hear himself echoing.

* * *

><p>"<em>IF YOU KILL US WE'RE GONNA BE DEAD, AND I SWEAR I'M GOING TO COME BACK TO HAUNT YOUR FRAGGING AFT'S!<em>"

Miles voice could be heard loudly, causing all four Cybertronians to seize fire. Then they could hear Sam snort.

"_They heard that!_"

"_Frag you, Sam!__"_

They all stared in disbelief at the Seeker who was still flying upside down. Bumblebee scanned the mech immediately, letting out a happy click.

"There's two organics inside of him!"

"_That's right, Bumblebee. He is Bumblebee, right?_" Silence as he waited and got a response from one of the teens. "_Good. I am officially joining the Autobots, and I hoped to return these two safely, but we have a problem. Miles lost his ability to communicate with us, my communication relays were down, and now I can not fly or land myself. Miles is currently in control of my flight pattern._"

"_Which sucks, so thanks! Now how the hell do I land him?_"


	44. No rest for the wicked

**AN:** I hope whoever celebrates it had a wonderful Thanksgiving! But good lord Black Friday is awful! x_x Walmart was _insane._ I so need to write something with the Cybertronians and Black Friday.

**Reviews:** Thanks to _OrianPrime92, SakiSenka, Iwanita, MissShelz, Jacqueline Walker, Noella50881, _and_ So Awesome_ for reviewing! It means a lot!  
><em>(Reviews make me feel compelled to update faster! x) )<em>

* * *

><p>Ratchet was looking up at Skyfire, and Optimus was trying to figure out how to help Miles to land. Upside down would definitely not do. Bumblebee was acting like an excited Sparkling, much to the amusement of every mech around him. Unable to help himself, a click or a whirl would escape his vocalisor. Currently he had a song playing from his radio.<p>

"Are there any switches or buttons?" Optimus asked, voice raised higher than normal even though Skyfire could probably make the teens hear even him even without that.

"_Lots of black switches with no labels. Buttons are the same._" Miles voice came back, sounding highly annoyed. "_Sam, don't press tha-!_"

"_Heat seeking missiles engaged. I suggest turning those off._" Skyfire said softly.

"_Oops!_"

"_Sam!_"

All of them took a step back, watching Skyfire wearily, and Ravage went back inside to Soundwave. The cat mech had decided that if missiles were going to be involved, he was going to be smart and get the frag out of there. Even Bumblebee moved back, though he was still closer than the rest of them.

"_You're a scientist who was asleep for how long? Why in the pit do you have heat seeking missiles anyway?_" Miles asked with exasperation.

"_Some inhabitants are not as welcoming._" A pause. "_Heat seeking missiles disengaged. You know, I didn't even realize there was a switch for that._"

"_Maybe we should take an hour or two figuring out which switch and button is which and deciding what to chuck and what to label._" Sam said helpfully.

"_That would be a good idea._" Skyfire responded, cheerful as ever.

They could all hear Miles groan, and Sam's snicker. Bumblebee grinned, glancing back at Barricade.

"I think he's going to need Bearapy." The Scout said, causing Ratchet to snort and Optimus to chuckle even as the Prime went back to trying to help.

"Where did you pick up that nonsense?"

"Miles."

Ratchet grinned, "It's always Miles, isn't it?"

* * *

><p>"Will, do you feel that?" Epps asked, the two standing next to Soundwave.<p>

Will stared at his friend for a moment, before realizing what he was talking about. He could feel Sam again. He almost felt complete knowing they were all there. So that meant the teen hadn't actually died! That was great news, and a huge relief. Fig would be overjoyed to hear about the two returning.

"Sam, he's there!"

Soundwave cleared his vocalisor, both soldiers turning towards him. "Sam: alive. Status: Inside Skyfire, outside building. With Miles."

"You mean the stupid Seeker who's flying upside down?" Epps asked. He wondered if Sam had 'purged' already. The teen did not have a strong stomach.

"Optimus Prime: Ordered the use of a Dewinger. Skyfire: No longer in control of flight relays. Miles: Crash course in flying. Mission: Learn how to land."

"Miles is flying Skyfire." Will translated, trying not to laugh.

"Ravage reports that he appears to be in less than an excellent mood, and Sam mentioned something about him being pumped up on Monsters."

Epps looked at his Will with a grin, "We need to get out there. Like now."

Both hightailed it outside.

* * *

><p>"<em>And how much sleep have you two been getting?<em>" Ratchet asked, more worried about their health than the fact that they were still trying to figure out how to land. Miles had finally figured out how to keep Skyfire upright and unmoving, though he had yet to find the wheels to land him yet. It didn't help that Skyfire wasn't sure what buttons provided what function, seeing as he never used them.

"I've been asleep for most of this." Sam said cheerfully, "Didn't wake up until late afternoon yesterday, and then I slept through the night."

"_Miles?_"

"I got a couple hours when Skyfire first got us out."

Skyfire spoke up helpfully, "To be exact, he slept for 3.25 hours, with 1.5 of those in the REM cycle. He did not sleep at all last night, and understandably had trouble sleeping in captivity. He bought this drink labeled Monsters to help rejuvenate him today."

Miles groaned, about ready to just bang his head off the yoke, or whatever it was actually called. Sam decided to help by making a few comments about his amazing flying skills.

Miles glared at Sam, "Fine! If you have complaints, fly him yourself!"

"No, thank you." Sam said, grinning sheepishly. He might complain, but he didn't want to be doing it.

"_Miles, I just got him back, don't you dare go killing him._" Bumblebee's voice came through to them.

"No promises." Miles muttered back.

"My scanners indicate you are stressed. Suggestion: Attempt to calm down."

Sam tried hard not to snicker, he really did, but between the look on Miles' face, and Skyfire's cheerful yet helpful tone, a little one escaped him.

"_Excellent, could you report your scans of them to me, Skyfire?_" Ratchet, always being a medic and looking out for his mechs, or in this case humans.

"Samuel is healthy. He had plenty of sleep just recently, and refueled yesterday evening and this morning. Miles requires recharge, and he needs to be taught how to take care of himself better."

"What?" Miles asked in shock.

"_What?_"

"Monsters are a bad thing, yes? He willingly put some in his body."

Sam cracked up, not even bothering to try not to this time.

* * *

><p>"<em>Monsters are a bad thing, yes? He willingly put some in his body.<em>"

Skyfire's voice drifted down to them, and then Sam's laughter. Epps and Will tried hard not to laugh themselves, while Ratchet attempted to explain the difference, even if he didn't approve of Miles drinking the energy drink either way. Bumblebee and Barricade had activated their holoforms when the soldiers had come out, and Bumblebee snickered.

"I think Miles is about to blow his top." Epps said, grinning. Will and Bumblebee nodded.

"_What?_" Skyfire sounded alarmed. "_Samuel, take the yoke! We can not allow this to happen!_"

Sam was laughing too hard to actually listen. Miles desperately tried to explain that it was a figure of speech, and no, he was not actually going to blow up, or blow anything.

"_Oh, good._" Skyfire sounded relieved.

Silence reined for about a minute as Sam got control of himself.

"_Can he just open up the door and I jump out? Please? Barry could catch me._"

"I actually think that might be the best idea." Ratchet said, a grin in his voice. This time everyone but Bumblebee nodded.

"Sam first!" Bumblebee replied. He wanted his Charge, darn it.

"Actually, all three of you are right." Optimus said, "If Miles can get Skyfire as close to the ground as possible, and then they jump out, Skyfire could just transform. There would be little damage to him."

He didn't say it, but it would also distract Ratchet from the teens and allow the Guardians to grab their Charges. The Medic glared at his Prime, while Bumblebee clicked happily.

* * *

><p>Surprisingly enough, it had been as simple as that. Something that annoyed Miles even more, seeing as he had been trying to figure out how to land the large Seeker for a good few minutes. Though Optimus, being the tallest one there since Skyfire was in alt mode, was the one who caught them.<p>

Sam had barely touched the ground before he was picked up again by Bumblebee, and grinning. "I missed you too, Bee."

Ratchet gave Skyfire a quick once over, promised to come back to him, and then went after Sam. Skyfire was a scientist, and they were built to be sturdy for whatever they might find out in the field. Some of the worlds were more dangerous than others. Or, like in Wheeljack's case, they just kept blowing themselves up. He let Bumblebee continue to hold him, which was just fine with the Scout.

"And how do you feel?" Ratchet asked. His scans indicated Sam was fine, which was a relief.

"Okay," Sam replied, grinning. He made himself comfortable in Bumblebee's servo.

Ratchet was about to say something else when Optimus stepped up beside him, and he allowed his Prime to talk. Skyfire came and stood between them.

"I know it is soon, but I would like a debriefing of whatever you can tell me." The young Prime said gently.

Sam nodded, "That's fine, but unless you want a lot on how the back of my eyelids look, I'd talk to Miles."

"Perhaps later." Optimus grinned, gesturing to Miles and Barricade. If the teen wasn't already asleep, he was darn close to it. The ex-con had the teen in servo up against his Spark chamber, where the slight heat and thrum would be more comforting and relaxing. Barricade just glared at them, daring them to say anything.

"He is unusual. He showed me how you two met, and I don't think I would have acted the same in those circumstances. Much less come to trust you enough where I would be comfortable to fall asleep when it wasn't absolutely necessary." Skyfire said, watching the two.

"Showed you?" Ratchet asked, though he wasn't the only one to wonder.

"He sent a databurst to me with a lot of different information. I did have to decode it, but once I cracked a bit the rest was easy. He included how they met, and a few other things, like footage from Mission City he had seen, and stuff about Orion."

Barricade snorted, "I don't think unusual is descriptive enough."

"Face it, you're never getting rid of him, 'Cade." Sam said, grinning.

"Who said he wanted to?" Bumblebee asked with a smirk, holding his own Charge close.


	45. Transformation

**AN: **I can't remember what story of mine, but a reviewer pointed out it's SamuAl not SamuEl, like I've been spelling it. So, sorry for the mistake! (P.S. All my reviewers get an imaginary cookie :D)

**Sidenote:** A couple different people mentioned loving the friendship between Skyfire and Starscream, and wanting Starscream to turn good. It kind of inspired me, so thanks! (most notably _anonybot_ who sent me a message over the matter)

**Reviews: **Thanks to _Jacqueline Walker, Iwanita, MissShelz, OrianPrime92, Fk306 Animelover, Ryen Selenity Caliburn, Transformer Junkie, Starshinesoldier, DarkHunter643, BrowneyedShamer, _and _DreamWeaveBeliever_ for reviewing! It means a lot!  
><em>supergirlprime:<em> Welcome to the story, and I'm glad you like it!  
><em>writergurl616:<em> Yeah, Miles can no longer talk to Ravage! But I do plan for our little cat 'con to get a voice at some point. Maybe!

**_Chapter 45  
>Transformation<em>**

* * *

><p>The official Cybertronian meeting room was in use once more. Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Wheelie, Barricade, Mikaela, Trent, Epps, Fig, Will, Graham, little Orion, and Miles was there. Soundwave and most of the cassetticons had not come, Ravage being the only one there. The cat mech sat directly beside Miles, though they could no longer talk internally. This meant that since Miles was sitting up against one of Barricade's servos, the cat mech was sitting near to the larger ex-con as well. The entire group was only waiting on two people.<p>

Orion sat in a circle of humans, happily tweeting and clicking away. Everyone, and everymech, just seemed so much happier. It made Orion happy, too.

"Of course I'll show you my transformation, Sky. Miles', too." Sam was heard saying as he walked in the room with Skyfire's holoform, and two mango smoothies in his hand.

Skyfire's bipedal mode, and his alt mode, was too big for the meeting room. Due to this, Optimus had contacted an old friend to do a bit of friendly remodeling for the bigger mech, though that was a while in coming. Until then he had to use his holoform in most places.

"Thank you, Samual." Skyfire responded, following Sam on to the table.

Miles eyed the two wearily, snatching his smoothie from Sam. "Last time Skyfire talked about a transformation it was something... different. And I really don't think you'd have agreed to it, so what is it now?"

"The aging process of a human. Baby, toddler, child, teen, adult, elderly. We only go up to teen, but it'll do. What was it before?"

"I believe I apologized for that already, Miles." Skyfire said, making his way towards Orion. Orion tweeted at him sweetly, always happy to meet someone new. Epps and Fig moved to the side, allowing the holoform to get to the Sparkling.

"I don't think I want to know." Sam grinned, going and sitting in Bumblebee's servo. He sipped on his smoothie happily.

Ravage used his tail to poke Miles, and Optimus raised an optic ridge. The Prime spoke for both of them, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Barricade. "But we do."

"Starscream happened to mention that a part on the male organics 'transforms', including it was down near their lower regions. I asked Miles to undress and show me this." Skyfire replied matter of factly, cooing at Orion in Cybertronian and looking pleased at the resulting clicks he got in return.

Sam choked on his smoothie, covering his mouth to keep from spitting out the rest of it while he laughed. Epps, Trent, and Will openly laughed, while Fig and Mikaela kept themselves to a few quiet snickers. Barricade and Ratchet snorted, and Optimus chuckled. Wheelie made a comment that Mikaela quickly smacked him for, and Bumblebee played a stripper song, causing Sam to laugh harder. Graham was the only one not to laugh at Miles, out loud, anyway.

"I learned that blood can rush to the face during embarrassment, and what a human sounds like at a true loss for words while trying to talk at the same time. It was very interesting, actually." Skyfire smiled, and no person, or mech, could tell if he was playing the memory file, or if it was because he was dealing with the cuteness of Orion.

"Interesting my ass." Miles grumbled, shifting closer to Barricade, as if the ex-con could protect him from any other Skyfire incidents.

Barricade glanced down at the teen, smirking. "Well, now we've found someone who annoys you as much as you annoy others."

Miles decided to take the mature route and just stuck his tongue out at the ex-con.

"Skyfire, I'll have a talk with you about all that fun human stuff during your extensive check up later, if you would like." Ratchet grinned.

"Thank you, Ratchet."

Optimus cleared his vocalisor, drawing everyone's, and mech's, attention to him. "We did come here for a reason."

"Sorry, boss 'bot, but there's not much I can tell you. All I usually saw was Skyfire, sometimes Starscream. Shockwave once. I know Megatron was being brought back, but that's about it. I spent most of my time in the slammer, alone."

"And you, Skyfire?"

"I will give you a full detailed report later, Prime."

"Thank you. Miles, Ratchet will want to talk to you later." The Prime tried not to grin at the face the teen made. Ratchet had accepted the select few humans into his family. It was only natural he worried about their mental stability and health. And a gentle Ratchet could be the scariest Ratchet of all.

"Okay," Miles replied, then looked at Wheelie, "But who's our newest member?"

"The only Decepticon you didn't bring in." Mikaela said, smirking, and hugging Wheelie. The newly turned 'con sat in her lap, happy as a clam. "His designation is Wheelie."

Bumblebee poked the tiny Decepticon, "We're pretty sure he's in love with Mikaela. He goes on and on about her being a Warrior Goddess. It's hilarious. Apparently Barricade avoided working with him, you'll probably see why."

"I'm not in love with a filthy organic!" A snarl. Then a smack is heard, and the tune is quickly changed. "But not you, Warrior Goddess! The others!"

"Hey, he kind of sounds like Cade." Sam said, snickering. "Saying one thing, but you know he means another."

Wheelie perked up at this, looking at the larger ex-con. "So you're in love with your Charge?"

A small moment of silence, only interrupted by Orion tweeting at Skyfire. Miles, naturally, was the first to break it, and did this by starting to laugh. Hard. Next was Ratchet, the medic snorting, and then Bumblebee and Sam started to laugh.

Barricade reached over Trent and Epps, into Mikaela's lap, and picked the tiny Cybertronian up with two claws. He then tossed him at the wall farthest away from them. Wheelie went flying with a slew of Cybertronian that had even Ratchet smirking, and little Orion laughed and clapped his servos together happily when he connected with the wall.

"Barricade!" Mikaela scowled, glaring at the ex-con.

"He'll live, unfortunately."

"He didn't even know about the recording or Vegas." Epps grinned, leaning back. "What does that tell us?"

"What recording?" Wheelie's voice could be heard, though he was out of sight. Then he could be seen trying to climb back up.

"Bad boy. Stay down." Bumblebee flicked him back down, grinning.

Optimus sighed, watching the proceedings. "I never understand how we get so off track."

* * *

><p>The only people left in the meeting room were Miles, Skyfire, Orion, and Optimus Prime. Barricade, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Wheelie, and the humans had all been kicked out. Bumblebee was happy since he still had Sam, but Sam had kicked up a fuss, and Barricade had decided that taking Wheelie out for a game of catch with the Autobot Scout was a great idea since he didn't have anything else to do, like cart around Miles.<p>

"Alright, thank you, the both of you. You may take your leave now." Optimus Prime said, looking down at the two human sized beings before him.

He had found out everything he could think of, getting more from Skyfire than from Miles. The teen couldn't provide much information at all, but not for lack of trying. The Decepticons had been smarter than that, in case the two were somehow found and retrieved. Skyfire, however, had a lot of information to give them.

Miles stood up, but Skyfire hesitated, looking up at the Prime.

"I plan on doing my best to bring Starscream over to this side, Prime. He does not belong with the Decepticons, it is a mistake."

Optimus quickly slid his battle mask, "Starscream has been with the Decepticons since the beginning of the war, Skyfire. I am afraid there is no mistake."

"He's different than before. He was never like that when I knew him. But he acted the same if we were alone. I'm positive that if I could jus-"

"Skyfire, I am sorry, but even if you did I highly doubt that even the humans would be accepting of him. Barricade was just a fighter, and Soundwave has still not been fully accepted. Starscream?

"You do not understand. That is not Starscream. The Starscream I know would have never acted this way."

"And I believe you would have never turned your back on him before, but you did when you helped Miles and Sam. You have changed. That means he could have, too."

Skyfire said nothing, and Miles frowned. Optimus waved them out, and Skyfire was so deep inside his own processor that he actually walked out with Miles in his holoform.

"C'mon, Sky, don't give up hope." Miles said.

"Optimus Prime is right. It is not unheard of for a mech to change his ways. I just do not wish to believe Starscream could do so."

Miles followed Skyfire, "Well, he was the Air Commander even before the war, right?"

"Of course. Starscream has always been the best flyer, even with the greater number of Seekers around. That would be why most of my kind was with the Decepticons, though some decided to stay Neutral, or turn away from Starscream completely. But it was a guarantee that at least 40%, if not more, would stay with the Air Commander."

Skyfire walked to his alt mode, before allowing the holoform to disperse. Miles looked away, even with knowing the holoform was fake it still was a bit creepy. Miles turned back when he heard the signs of a transformation, turning back to watch.

"Then in a war getting the Air Commander on your side would be a key maneuver, right? Seekers could potentially be a great key against the opposite side."

"That would be correct, of course. Both factions would have wanted Starscream, but he was with the Decepticons from the start."

"You keep saying that Starscream was never like that before. Why would he join the Decepticons?"

"He changed." Skyfire bent and picked the teen up, allowing Miles to get situated in his hand.

Miles hesitated a moment, he knew what he was about to suggest could be wrong, or just give the Seeker false hope. But it was something, or nothing. "Or could someone change him? Ironhide told me of the Reprogrammers."

It was rare that Ironhide told stories of when he was young, but when he did, everyone tended to gather around. He and Ratchet were both about the same age, but the Weapons Specialist was just a bit older. This story telling happened when it was just a normal and slow morning.

Long ago there had been a point where some Cybertronians were made without an emotional center. It was thought that no emotions would lead to greater accomplishments, and would further evolve the race as a whole. If you had nothing to make you feel pity, than you could go as far as needed to further the cause. Instead, a few gathered some unsuspecting and little known mechs and experimented on them. They had found a way to reprogram them, and created their own personal slaves.

Needless to say, the reprogramed mechs were terminated as they could not be fixed. The Scientists were put away until they terminated themselves, and their research was completely destroyed, or so it is told.

"Then you know their research was destroyed long ago, and that is why everyone is programmed with an emotion center at Sparking."

"What if it was brought back?"

"That is highly improbable, Miles. No mech, or femme, with morals would willingly reprogram another mech."

"No mech with morals would willingly experiment on a Sparkling."

Miles looked up into the face of the giant Seeker, and Skyfire looked back. It wasn't hard for Miles to believe that Shockwave was the Cybertronian version of a monster, and it wasn't a long shot for Skyfire either. And it gave the Scientist hope.

* * *

><p>"Barry, Wavey, perfect!" Miles walked into the hangar with the ex-con and the Decepticon Neutral. "What did you two think of Starscream?"<p>

"What, no hello?" Barricade asked sarcastically, plucking the teen off the floor mid-stride. He ignored Skyfire's holoform, the mech following the teen.

Soundwave was the one to think about it, "He was smart, and good at tactical maneuvers, but not as good as Lo-Megatron. He excelled in air based attacks, but lacked in ground ones. The only problem was his attitude."

"Attitude?" Barricade snorted, "He not only tried to offline Megatron, but gave away some of our secrets to the Autobots."

"Yes, exactly. A good human term would be backstabbing. Traitor." Soundwave confirmed, "It always did baffle me as to why Megatron would keep him of all mechs so close. He was a good fighter, and the leader of the Seekers, yes, but still."

"He was bat shit insane, and Megatron was for keeping him around even with all the shit he pulled." Barricade glanced down at Miles, "Why did you ask?"

Skyfire's holoform looked at Miles, "Proving part of a theory to me."

"I don't want to know, do I?" Barricade looked between the two.

"We think Starscream might have been Reprogrammed."

Silence from both Soundwave and Barricade, before Barricade vented softly.

"Damnit, now I might have to feel bad for that damned Seeker."


	46. Bears, dogs, and groundhogs

**AN: **_You know what's more annoying than writer's block? Having ideas out the wazoo, but all of them being on areas that are later in on the story! It's been a little over two weeks, I know you guys must be dying for your injection of TC. Good news: Christmas break starting Friday! One __of my reviewers threatened me in a very humorous way, so I thought it time to update. BARRY TURNED AGAINST ME ;_;_

**Reviews: **19 in total! Woohoo! Thanks a bunch, guys, I love getting responses from you all. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!  
><em>Kit Williams:<em> Sparkling size: Big enough to grab and hug Miles, like I have in the one chapter. So about a child's size, if not a bit bigger. Anywhere from 8 to teens, I guess.  
><em>Sharta: <em>I honestly laughed at this, so thanks a lot! But now you can't kill me anymore, so there!

_Chapter 46  
>Bears, dogs, and groundhogs<em>

* * *

><p>Miles had looked everywhere, but he just couldn't find what he was searching for. The mess hall, Barricade's appointed bedroom, outside, the human rec-room, Orion's room, and anywhere else that he could think of. Finally he ventured into the Autobot rec-room, seeing Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Skyfire's holoform, Sam, Epps, Mikaela, and Wheelie. In the corner of the room was a large cardboard box, this being about as big as Bumblebee, though it's larger side was against the ground.<p>

"Where's Barry?"

"He did not tell you he was leaving?" Skyfire's holoform asked, currently sitting next to Mikaela. He had expected that the ex-con would, being the teenager's Guardian.

Miles simply stared.

"Soundwave, the Cassetticons, and Barricade all went to meet up with the others. Apparently a Decepticon, one of Barricade's old team, wished to meet with him, and the other Decepticons here on base, to decide which side he should be on. The designation is Ground Hog." Optimus told him, everyone else knowing already. Sam had even been woken up to be told.

"Old team?" Mikaela asked, looking at Sam to see if he knew. He just shrugged.

"The Race Track Patrol, right?" Miles questioned, getting a nod from Optimus. "Barry mentioned it before, briefly, and he never really explained it."

"It was mostly ran before the beginning of the war, and the early years when we were still on Cybertron. Basically it's like human race tracks, without any rules. As fast as possible, no restrictions. Bets could be made, and it was big among fighters, gamblers, and racers alike. Megatron closed it down after so long, not liking the damage it was doing to his Decepticons. To make sure it stayed down he selected Barricade, the leader, as a Scout, and kept Barricade with him." Optimus explained, Ratchet nodding beside him.

Bumblebee gestured to the box, "That is for you. Barricade said you weren't allowed to open it until five minutes before we plan to communicate with them."

Four surprised humans, and one minicon, turned their heads to the box. Silence for just a moment, and Ratchet was grinning. He loved it when you could practically see a human's wheels turning.

"I think Cade's defective. You need to get a new 'con, Miles." Epps grinned.

Miles ignored Epps, "When can I open it?"

"We'll be contacting them at 3:30 p.m., so you may open it at 3:25 p.m. It is 7:45 a.m. right now." Bumblebee told him, trying not to grin. He could just see what was coming, and he wasn't disappointed.

"**But that's forever from now!**" Two voices whined, Sam joining his best friend in doing what teenagers did best.

Skyfire looked at the two, obviously interested by their capability to talk in unison. Bumblebee merely snickered.

* * *

><p>"What are you two doing?" Skyfire inquired, attempting to peer down at the piece of paper Sam was writing on.<p>

"Trying to make sure Miles doesn't drive himself bonkers before the appointed time." Sam replied, grinning.

The two were in the cafeteria, mostly ignored lunches beside them. Miles was leaning against Sam, and both were focused on a single piece of paper.

"We're listing all the Cybertronians on base, thinking of the ones who might be coming, and then adding in humans." Miles explained better, knowing that leaving the Scientist hanging would just result in more questions.

"Why?"

Sam shrugged, "Why not? We're bored, and it gives us something to think about. Then we can compare it to the known forces of the Decepticons on Earth, and who might be coming."

Skyfire sat down in front of the two teens, nodding. It made sense.

"What do you have so far?" The Scientist asked.

"The Cybertronians on base: Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Jazz, Bumblebee, First Aid, Blaster, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Skids, Mudflap, Inferno, Red Alert, Prowl, Blurr, Trailbreaker, Orion, Grimlock, Swoop, Snarl, Barricade, Soundwave, Ravage, Ratbat, Laserbeak, Wheelie, and you. Twenty eight in total, only one of those, Orion, incapable of fighting. It would be preferred that Ratbat not have to, but if needed he can. Grimlock, Swoop, and Snarl would need to be trained." Sam read off the list, glancing up at Skyfire.

"We also expect Bluestreak, Tracks, Mirage, and some of the femmes to be arriving at some point. Namely Arcee, who counts as three for some reason. Not to mention the rest of First Aid's group, the Protectobots. Streetwise, Groove, Hot Spot, and Blades." Miles added in. "So that would make thirty-six plus, and thirty-five able to fight if needed. Then there's also Ground Hog, who may or may not be joining us."

Sam nodded, "The orga-humans on base: Miles, Mikaela, Trent, Maggie, Glen, Will, Epps, Fig, Graham, Sarah, Annabelle, and myself. This is based on who's here the most, not counting the other NEST members who are kind of like background fuzz."

"The Decepticons we have down are," Miles continued, "The one Megs and Screamer answer to, Megatron, Starscream, Shockwave, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Hook, Ground Hog, Motorhead, Rollerforce, Ramjet, Thrust, Dirge, Motormaster, Dead End, Breakdown, Drag Strip, Wildrider, Mixmaster, Scrapper, Onslaught, Reflector, Vortex, Scourge, and Swindle. We know that Menasor can be formed, and that's twenty-five in total. More is rumored to be coming."

Skyfire leaned back in his seat, thinking. "Menasor will definitely be a threat unless we can get all of the Protectobots here. We do not know much about the mystery mech, but if Megatron answers to him, then he is obviously very powerful. I do believe I heard his name tossed about, though. The Fallen. I have already informed Optimus Prime of this. The Seekers will be a problem for the ground mechs, and we do not have many Dewingers in stock. If the Aerialbots arrive, they will be easier to manage, but I heard rumors that all had been destroyed long ago."

"Wheeljack will hate that," Sam sighed, taking a sip of his apple juice.

Skyfire simply nodded. At the beginning of the war, with most of the Seekers on Megatron's side and more and more of the Autobot Seekers dying out, Wheeljack had helped to create the Aerialbots. Basically Seekers, but rid of the Seeker coding to all but each other. It was rumored that their sparks had been fresh from the Allspark at that time, which helped explain their behavior, but those were just rumors.

There was silence for a few minutes as Sam continued to scribble little notes down on the piece of paper, Miles occasionally stealing the pencil to add something in. Skyfire decided it was safe enough to voice one of his other questions.

"What could Barricade possibly be giving you?"

Miles grinned, "Sam thinks it's a life sized plush doll version of himself, Bumbebee holds the opinion that it's an elaborate plan to finally get rid of my annoying aft, Ratchet just laughed, Epps agreed with Bumblebee, and I'm not sure what I think. Stuff keeps going around in my head, but I have no idea."

"And it's driving him crazy." Sam said, smirking.

"Damn Barry can still surprise me. That's not fair." Miles groaned, letting his head slump on to the table dramatically.

* * *

><p>Six minutes to 3:30 p.m., and Ratchet, Bumblebee, Optimus, Skyfire, Epps, Will, Graham, Sam, Miles, and Orion were all gathered back into the Autobot rec-room. Miles was safely on Optimus' servo, the Prime giving him a small boost up so he could open the box easily. Optimus had his helm turned the other direction, pointedly staring at Ratchet, half to annoy the easily annoyed medic, and half so that Miles could be the first to see his present.<p>

"3:25!" Sam said, perched on Bumblebee's shoulder.

Miles opened the cardboard box, and he stayed silent, just staring inside.

"Well?" Epps urged. He had a running bet on Will with this thing, something along the lines of Barricade finally accepting he has a good spark, and he wanted to know.

Optimus could feel Miles slipping off his servo, and everyone could see and hear him land in the box. After a few seconds there was choked sound, as if he was forcing himself not to laugh at something he found funny.

"Epps, you were wrong. He's not defective, just a fragging aft!" Miles called from the inside. Optimus fished him back out when he asked, and Miles held up a tiny deck of cards. "They have dogs on them."

They all looked, Will, Epps, Sam, and Bumblebee laughing. Ratchet merely rolled his optics while Optimus grinned. Orion laughed because others were laughing, feeding off their joy.

Poor Skyfire and Graham were thoroughly confused, however. The entire Mason incident had to be explained to them, and how Barricade had finally gotten around to getting Miles back, basically by completely screwing with his mind.

* * *

><p>At 3:31 they made the connection, a little distracted by explaining everything and trying to kill their own amusement. The line was straight to Barricade and Soundwave, and Miles was naturally the first to speak as soon as Bumblebee indicated that they could.<p>

"Aft."

"_You didn't like my present? I'm hurt_." Barricade tried to sound slightly hurt, but a smidgen of smug was sneaking through.

"I loved the box, but you seemed to have left your playing cards inside of it. Want them back?"

A snort, "_No thanks. You can keep them_."

"_If you two are done_," Soundwave cut in, pausing. Neither Barricade or Miles spoke up, though a tiny growl could be heard. "_Prime: Ground Hog returning to base with us. Query: What would you have us do?_"

"Disable his weapons, for the time being. Shorten his comm range to a five mile radius, that will cover the entire base. If he needs to leave we can link it to certain mechs, most likely Barricade. Have him checked over by Ratchet, given energon, and then allow him to meet the organics. Barricade, I would like to request that you stay with him when he meets them, and goes for energon. If he wants to see Orion he is not allowed to be alone with him, and someone else has to be within a grabbing distance. Ratchet can handle Ground Hog on his own."

"_The Deluxe Decepticon Welcoming treatment?_" Barricade asked sarcastically, "_You got it._"

* * *

><p>Ground Hog had just been released from Ratchet's tender care, sporting several new dents and scratches, but passing the standard bill of health for a Cybertronian, if not in need of a good drink of energon. He had just arrived on Earth the day before Skyfire had left with Sam and Miles, and had spent all of that in stasis being worked on by Hook. After finding out that Barricade was with the <em>Autobots<em>, of all things, he had snuck off when everyone was more interested in another fight between the SIC and leader of the Decepticons.

He had found the traveling group of Autobots, and had declared peace towards all of them, asking to speak with Barricade, Soundwave, or both. The group had waited in a rarely visited forest for the two ex-cons, and then had begun to move once more when Ground Hog had decided that he would give Decepticon-Neutrality a try.

Ground Hog was walking next to Barricade, talking to his old team leader in Cybertronian, when he noticed an organic heading towards them. He had never seen one of the dominant organics up close before, and stopped to pay the thing more attention. Barricade stopped beside him, looking down at the organic.

"Hey, Ground Hog, I'm Miles." Miles grinned up at the newcomer, "Nice to meet an old friend of Barricade's." The teen figured he could avoid using his preferred nick name for Barricade for a bit around the newest arrival, thinking he deserved that much after his little prank.

"He's a friendly socket." Ground Hog commented, smirking at Barricade. He didn't even bother using Cybertronian, nor did he bother to respond to Miles.

"They are not sockets, Ground Hog. That is something you are going to have to learn fast if you want to have a peaceful stay here. Each of these organics have more to them than appears. I already told you how they took down some of us in Mission City."

"Smart sockets, then." Ground Hog replied, reaching down and picking Miles up by the back of his shirt.

Miles naturally struggled, "Barry, teach your friend some manners!"

"_Barry?_" Ground Hog laughed, dropping Miles in his other servo. "You're soft on this one!"

"Ground Hog, put him down." Barricade growled in warning, watching him poke at Miles again. Ground Hog was usually the well behaved one out of their old team, playing medic whenever they needed it.

"Why? Is it your favorite little socket? Does it entertain you when you're bored? Don't tell me you're starting to develop that special taste for socket relations." Ground Hog smirked, not paying any attention to the organic starting to move on his servo. This would prove to be a mistake, the mech crying out more in shock than in actual pain, a moment later.

Miles had reached into the gap that revealed some of the inner workings of Ground Hog's wrist, most usually used by medics or himself to patch anything up. The teen had grabbed a handful of sensitive wires, along with an energon line, and pulled hard. It was enough to shock Ground Hog into dropping him, not bringing him any huge amount of pain. Barricade had caught the teen effortlessly.

"_He, _you dumb aft, I'm a he, though I do have a name. I could have yanked out that main energon line, and believe me, Ratchet would show you even less pity than he did the first time around. And I get that having your old team leader and friend being on the opposite side, and then joining the opposite side yourself, may be a big change and you may be questioning your own decision, but no one or mech is going to put up with a bad attitude for long, so you better suck it up soon. This was your decision, and now you're going to have to deal with the consequences like the big mech you are. This happens to mean learning how to play nice with us tiny organics." Miles ranted, glaring up at Ground Hog.

Ground Hog simply stared back in surprise, before turning red optics to Barricade. "I can see why you like him."


	47. Whipped Cream

**AN:** Merry Christmas, or happy whatever you may be celebrating! Here's a gift from me to you! :D No reviews, because it's 1 am where I am and I still need to wrap presents!

**AN2: **On the site I read information on Groundhog, it was Ground Hog, but I really don't care. No other name is like that, besides Optimus', and I'll just make that a Prime thing. So it's Groundhog now, for my story.

**AN3:** For those of you who might like the idea of B/M, you now have a whipped cream mental image. Mwahaha. And for those of you who don't: You now have a whipped cream mental image. Mwahaha.

**_Chapter 47  
>Whipped Cream<em>******

* * *

><p>Groundhog was already filed away as a member of NEST officially. It had only been a week since he had arrived on base. The four of them were at the target range, watching Ironhide, Blaster, and Jazz teach Skyfire some moves. Despite having defensive weaponry, the mech didn't have much going on skill wise, he just knew how to put on a good act.<p>

Barricade had been called to Optimus' office, the Prime wanting to speak about the possibilities of any of his other teammates landing on Earth, and whether or not they might defect. Miles was off plotting against his Guardian.

"What I do not understand," Groundhog started, "Is how he plans to get away with it, why Barricade puts up with all of this in general, and why only Miles calls him Barry."

"Barricade will bite anyone else who calls him that." Bumblebee smirked, "I prefer being rabies free, thank you."

The teens laughed, but Groundhog merely stared at him.

"Google it." Bumblebee urged, rolling his optics.

Groundhog did so, Bumblebee and the teens left to wait until the Decepticon Neutral was fully satisfied that he completely understood what the yellow Autobot had meant, even if it was only in a joking sense. This took about a minute.

"He only allows Miles to call him that, and anyone else gets a negative response." Groundhog stated, not bothering to make it sound like a question because it wasn't. Bumblebee nodded, and Groundhog continued. "But why Miles?"

Sam and Bumblebee thought of how to explain it, while Trent just sat back and watched the wheels turn.

Groundhog was determined to get to know everything, including the how's and why's of how things ran. Barricade, being familiar territory, was his first goal. This just happened to include Miles, seeing as the teen somehow had a lot to do with his old team leader.

"Start with how they met." Groundhog suggested.

Sam thought, "Well, after Mission City I had kind of let our friendship drift apart, not wanting to drag Miles into the whole mess. So naturally, he somehow has the luck to find what looks like a completely normal, if not slightly in need of some good love and care, police car. He decided he'd do his best to fix this random car up, seeing as it looked abandoned, and if he needed help he'd go to Mikaela's, whose father owns a car repair shop. At that time it was because he thought it would give him a chance to reconnect with me, so I guess it's my fault that he stuck to the car, but then again Miles always has been rather random."

"According to Barricade, who was in light stasis at the time, he woke up when Miles tried to hotwire him. The only reason he left Miles alone is because he decided it would be quicker and easier to let Miles try to fix him than to let his own repair systems do all the work." Bumblebee added, then grinned. "He ended up revealing himself when Miles tried to wash him off. Apparently he had just gotten creek water, it was really cold, and Barricade had been in recharge when Miles had tossed the water on him."

Groundhog smirked, "And how long did it take him to stop being scared after Barricade freaked out on him?"

Sam, Bumblebee, and Trent all looked at each other, grinning.

"Comm Skyfire and asked him to send you the file of Miles first realizing Barricade wasn't just a random police car." Bumblebee instructed.

Groundhog did so, receiving the data burst quickly even as Skyfire attempted to shake off Jazz from his leg. He watched it twice, using the first time to adjust to seeing things from an organics small viewpoint, and recognizing everything, and then the second to actually pay attention.

"Huh." He said when he was done. He'd have expected fearful reaction, not just initial shock and then Miles telling Barricade off. Groundhog could understand how that had thrown his old boss for a loop.

"Yeah, Miles is pretty much a wild card to everyone but Witwacky there." Trent said, shaking his head in amusement.

"So they were alone together for awhile?" Groundhog asked, looking to Sam now.

Sam nodded, "I'm not sure for how long, though. A good while, at least."

"No one actually saw the progression into a mutual friendship, then." Another statement, and Sam laughed.

"No, I wish. That would have been better than seeing one of the twins, either set, grope Ratch. Though I know for sure they weren't as close as they are now when 'Cade first came." Sam leaned back in his seat.

"Indeed?"

Trent snorted, "Indeed, my mech. I don't think I'll ever tell them they fight like an old married couple again, it's too disturbing."

Sam sat up with interest, looking at a grinning Trent. Groundhog paused to google what exactly the jock was referring to, before asking him to explain further. Bumblebee grinned, changing positions slightly as he mentioned he just so happened to be in the vicinity and catch it all as well. Naturally he started to show the two who hadn't seen the whole thing a projection of it.

It started with Bumblebee looking between Barricade and Miles, the two fighting about the ex-con's bullying of Wheelie. Miles was complaining about how Mikaela always got angry at him for whatever Barricade did, but it turned into a nonsense argument pretty quickly. Trent could be seen standing near Miles, watching in amusement.

"_You two fight like an old married couple._" Trent said finally, smirking.

Barricade and Miles looked at Trent, before looking at each other.

"_I don't mind that the secret's out, but I don't think I'll like everyone knowing I'm the femme in the relationship._" Miles stated, appearing completely serious.

"_If it makes you feel less stereotyped, I can make the sandwiches._" Barricade drawled, "_Besides, I hear food can be incorporated in human foreplay to spice up the sex life. I know you enjoy whip cream._"

"_You making me a sandwich? That's almost too hot to handle, let alone whipped cream!_"

"_I could lick it off you after we put it on your-_"

"_Okay, you two win!_" Trent interrupted quickly, slapping a hand over his eyes and walking the opposite direction. "_I'll never say that again! Now I need to go watch cartoons, get those horrifying images out of my head!_"

He didn't get to see Miles and Barricade smirk at each other, or hear Bumblebee break out into laughter.

Bumblebee cut the projection, Sam laughing while Trent rolled his eyes. Groundhog frowned, staying quiet for a moment. He accessed the internet, looked up the term whip cream, but remained lost.

"I'm confused, put the whip cream on Miles' what?" Groundhog asked.

There was silence for a moment before Bumblebee, Sam, and Trent broke into laughter.

* * *

><p>"May I ask a question based on a previous conversation held between you two that I have recently overheard?" Groundhog asked, seeming innocent.<p>

Barricade still eyed him warily. The ex-con knew that if Groundhog was actually asking for permission to ask, then it probably wasn't good, or he was really confused. Possibly both.

"Sure, go ahead." Miles answered for them, making himself comfortable in a spot on Barricade's leg, just close enough that he could lean his back against the mech's chasis.

They were in the Autobot rec-room, along with Sam, Bumblebee, Trent, Jazz, Epps, Will, Ironhide, and Skyfire's holoform. After an hour of watching Ironhide, Jazz, and Blaster train Skyfire, they had all met there, minus Skyfire, but gaining two more humans.

"Despite the sarcastic performance it was given in, using whipped cream you would lick it off of Miles' what?"

The aforementioned teen bit his lip to keep from laughing, grinning up at the ex-con. "Time to give our little boy the Talk, Barry. I'll leave this one up to you."

Groundhog wasn't sure whether he should be offended that he had been referred to as their sparkling, confused, slightly freaked out, or a combination of them all. When Barricade snorted, he decided to go with offended and growled at the teen. Miles simply waved him off, immune to growling after having dealt with Barricade for so long.

"Not doing this out loud." That was all Barricade said, by way of explanation when he and Groundhog dropped out of the conversation completely.

"I apparently missed something completely entertaining and juicy." Epps said, frowning at Miles. "I now hate you."

"You'll get over it quickly."

"He's just being histrionic." Will said, receiving blank looks from the four other humans in the room. "Sorry, I was helping Prowl out earlier. Pretty sure my I.Q. went up at least twenty points. I said Epps was being a drama queen."

"Hey!" Epps huffed indignantly, Jazz laughing at his Charge.

Ironhide snorted, rolling his optics at the tiny organics. Barricade and Groundhog decided to switch back to actual speech again. They let everyone know this by Groundhog looking down at Miles, and Miles grinning.

"Joking aside, as I really don't want to imagine Lancaster in any type of physical relationship," Trent tried not to grin when Miles blew a kiss to him, "Would a Cybertronian and a human both be able to get off if they did get together?"

"Of course." Skyfire answered, "The holoform can be programmed to perceive certain touches as pleasurable, and also to perform certain functions, like getting an erection. Semen would be lacking, but we would still be able to overload even in holoform. If an organic touched our spark, pleasure could be achieved that way. The organic would receive it too, being able to feel through a quick made connection by our sparks to their energy. That might still feel the need to have a bit more physical stimulus, or humping, but that would just be instincts. They would feel what the Cybertronian was feeling, and vice versa."

"You've thought about that a lot, Sky." Sam said, unsure whether or not to be intrigued, or wanting to stop listening.

"Robert introduced me to NEST fan-fiction." Skyfire explained, sounding just slightly defensive. Epps grinned proudly.

"Fan-fiction?" Groundhog asked, and Bumblebee sent him a data burst. Groundhog took a moment to read several, before looking back at Miles and Barricade and laughing. Barricade growled.

"I really don't want to know what you were reading. Some of those are just disturbing." Miles muttered in disgust, garnering a laugh from everyone else besides Groundhog and Barricade.

* * *

><p>Optimus was relaxing in his office, a rare opportunity presenting itself in the form of a break, and some good high grade energon with two close friends. These being his CMO and SIC, two people he'd trust with his life in a spark pulse.<p>

"Groundhog is assimilating well, then?" He asked, just after Ratchet mentioned touching up the Decepticon Neutral's paint job.

Prowl nodded, "He appears to be. He spends most of his time in Barricade's presence, which helps get him more used to the organics, seeing as Barricade spends most of his time with Miles, and Miles spends enough time being social for all three of them, but drags them along anyway."

"Did he and Prowler the II give you a surprise visit again, Mr. Grumpy?" Ratchet asked, grinning.

Optimus tried not to laugh as his normally stoic SIC glared at his CMO. For some inexplicable reason, Prowler the II seemed to really irritate Prowl, even more than a pranking spree from the twins. Miles and Jazz had taken to randomly visiting the SIC with the stuffed bear whenever he was deep in his work, too deep to even notice their presence, and leave the bear somewhere surprising for him to find. They had the poor SIC convinced the bear was moving on it's own for almost a week.

"Whether he and it did or not is not relevant to the conversation, Ratchet."

"Prowler the II would be hurt if he heard you calling him an it."

"Prowler the II is an inanimate object."

"So that's why you glitched when yo-"

Optimus purposefully cleared his intakes, grinning. "It is nice to know that Groundhog is getting on well."

"Your dream of the war coming to an end might not be that far away, youngling. All the con's are defecting, after all." Ratchet smirked, slapping his leader on the back. Hard.

"Wheelie is a xenopholiac, Soundwave loves Sparklings, Cassetticons are always loyal, Skyfire most likely would have been an Autobot anyway." Prowl chimed in, battle computer computing the illogical nature of Ratchet's statement.

"What about Barricade then, smartaft?" Ratchet sounded annoyed, but they were all used to Prowl by now.

"Miles is a force all of his own." Prowl deadpanned, only grinning when Ratchet and Optimus laughed.

"I think all organics are." Optimus said, raising his cube in a toast.

Their small little party would continue, and the CMO and SIC would find themselves still in Optimus' office when they were woken up by Blaster's voice coming over the base wide loudspeaker.

"_Team Alpha Minor B under attack in space. Urgent back up requested._"


	48. Beneficial friends

**AN:** My dad turned on Transformers while I was on the stairs._ "Is that Transformers?" "Yes." *listens to epic music* "First movie?" "Yes." *epic music, some transformation sounds* "Where they all meet?" "Yes." _I felt accomplished :D

**Reviews:** Thanks to _BrowneyedShamer_, _MissShelz_, _Noella50881_, _DarkHunter643_, _Sharta_, and _supergirlprime_ for reviewing!

**AN2:** Things will get more heated in the next chapter, promise! I know it's been building up, and what's coming next is actually even more build up. Mwahaha. This chapter is mainly just breaking the tension that's starting because of what may or may not be happening to team Alpha Minor B, and then talking about Barricade's feelings.

**Question: **A facebook page for this story? The main reason would just be to make it easier if anyone has any questions, comments, suggestions, etc and wants to voice them. FF does have PM's, but those only go so far.

**AN3: **_supergirlprime_ has pointed out that they want to see more of Orion, so I'm thinking about writing a sidestory featuring the sparkling. It obviously wouldn't be my main concern, but if I got a cute idea I'd update it. Like or dislike?

**AN4:** If anyone has any requests/suggestions you can certainly make them! Like the one with Orion, which I actually plan on doing at this point. If I like it enough, or get an idea for it, then I might do it. No promises, though!

_Chapter 48  
>Beneficial friends<em>

* * *

><p>After the base wide alert about team Alpha Minor B, everyone had been rushed awake. Optimus, First Aid, both sets of twins, Inferno, Blurr, Ironhide, Blaster, Soundwave, the Cassetticons, Wheeljack, and Trailbreaker had gone to meet the call. Soundwave and the cassetticons had been taken just in case they could negotiate any other defects, or if Soundwave could talk sense into Megatron, to tell him the war was over. This left Barricade, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Jazz, Prowl, Skyfire, Red Alert, Wheelie, Orion, Groundhog, and the Dinobots as the only 'bots left on base.<p>

Sam, Miles, Epps, Will, Trent, Mikaela, Wheelie, and the holoform's of Bumblebee, Skyfire, Groundhog, Barricade, and Jazz sat around one of the cafeteria tables. Ratchet had Orion with him, and Prowl, Graham, Fig, and Red Alert were watching over the command center. They sat in silence, each waiting to hear any news, to hear the call. The call bringing good news of rescue, or the call bringing bad news of loss or severely wounded.

Of course, the team going to meet up with Alpha Minor B had to travel into space first, and establish a better connection with the small Autobot fleet. Depending on complications, this could take more than one day. The team was supposed to report back every six hours to check in, and give a status update. Until then no one, or mech, had much to go off of. The NEST organics had even less than their Cybertronian counterparts, seeing as they didn't even know that the Cybertronians had an easy means of traveling back into space. Almost all of the organics had spoken up, wanting to go along. That notion had been shot down fairly quickly, though.

Skyfire glanced around the table, taking in the anxious faces of the soldiers, and the tired but worried ones of Trent, Sam, Mikaela, and Miles. Jazz and Bumblebee were surprisingly silent, while Barricade just seemed to be in one of his no talking moods. Groundhog seemed fairly awkward, as if he was unsure how to act in this situation. He hadn't been around long enough to be that close to any of the 'bots, especially since he was mainly working on getting reacquainted with Barricade, and getting used to tiny organics. Besides Barricade, he was actually fairly partial to First Aid, a fellow mech in training who was used to being in a team.

Skyfire was a mech of science, and this generally involved a lot of talking. Sitting around and worrying whether or not one of the 'bots that went out might eventually be fighting Starscream, that his old friend might be killed by one of his new friends, wasn't nearly as productive as if he spent his time asking questions he had stored away for a time when people wouldn't be so busy. This appeared to be such a time, so he decided that he would be the one to break the silence.

"Samuel, are you and Bumblebee friends with benefits?" Skyfire asked, turning to look at the teen and his Guardian, who sat beside him.

Sam stared at Skyfire in shock, while Miles burst out laughing. Bumblebee gave the scientist an incredulous look, while making a mental note to make sure he have a talk with the mech about using google before asking his questions out loud. Mikaela immediately looked slightly guilty, holding Wheelie on her lap. No one really seemed to notice; Will was too busy trying not to laugh, and Epps and Trent were silently shaking. Barricade and Groundhog just stared at Skyfire.

"Where did you even get that?" Trent questioned while he looked at Sam, who still appeared too shocked to answer.

"Mikaela, Sarah, and Maggie were talking one night, and I heard it mentioned between the three of them."

"No, Sky. Bee and I are not friends with benefits." Sam grumbled, glaring at Mikaela. His ex-girlfriend made a point of not looking at him, and Sam couldn't bring himself to get angry at Skyfire. The mech was just like a gentle giant, if not a bit too curious.

"Oh, I see." Skyfire replied, before looking at Miles and Barricade. "Are you two friends with benefits?"

That stopped Miles laughing almost immediately, while Barricade just stared at the scientist. The ex-con had decided that if Miles saw fit to deem that question with a response, then the teen could respond however he wanted. Barricade would just ignore the mech.

"Not nearly as funny when it's pointed at you, is it, buddy?" Sam asked, smirking.

Miles glared at his friend, "Skyfire, please look up the term friends with benefits." A pause, before he continued heatedly. "And I swear to Primus I do not care if you like learning things without the help of the internet, because there are just some times where you are better off googling!"

Skyfire looked a little put out, but googled the term anyway. The humans took a moment to be surprised by how expressive the Cybertronians could be. They tended to do this when mechs like Skyfire, Soundwave, Ironhide, or Barricade were more expressive than usual. Soundwave was the favorite, though, mainly because it annoyed him by how interested they were.

"Oh, I see. I apologize; I seemed to have crossed a social line." Skyfire said softly, before looking back at them. "But you did not deny it."

Miles let his head hit the table, while Sam, Bumblebee, Epps, Jazz, and Trent snickered. Groundhog contemplated looking up the term, before deciding against it. Humans could be such odd creatures, after all. Barricade looked torn between amusement and annoyance.

"What happens in Vegas _stays_ in Vegas, Sky." Jazz intoned, grinning widely. Neither Groundhog or Skyfire had been there for the particular incident the saboteur was referring too, but everyone and mech else knew what was being hinted at.

"Jazz, so not helping!" Miles groaned, unsure how much the two mechs had been filled in on, or whether Jazz would bother sending them a databurst to fill them in. Both Groundhog and Skyfire tried to look up the meaning of Vegas.

"Holy frag!" Poor Groundhog sounded startled, drawing all attention to him. He was still what everyone else counted as new to Earth, and even Skyfire knew what sites to avoid. Groundhog, however, had not stumbled on any really bad ones until just now. Ratchet had programmed in a fail-safe when dealing with human websites, no mech sure if a human virus could do any significant damage to a Cybertronian, or if it could mutate to affect a Cybertronian. So if the site would give the mech a virus, or had already given the mech a virus, then they would be unable to get out of said site, and somemech would need to help them.

"Oh, Groundhog, get off whatever site you're on and scan yourself." Miles ordered, frowning at Groundhog's holoform.

"I can't get off it!"

Barricade snorted, "Told you we should have set parental controls on him."

"Barry!" Miles scowled at his Guardian, "You would have been beyond pissed if we did that to you. Now just help him, he might pick up a Trojan virus, and it'll be _me_ answering to Ratchet if he does!"

"But-"

"No buts!"

Everyone, and holoform, watched this in interest, Skyfire especially. The others were just really amused by it, and Sam, Trent, and Epps were trying their hardest not to laugh. Barricade went about actually helping his teammate, too amused to be angry about how stupid Groundhog was.

"My question is," Will interrupted the slight quiet, "If they break up, who gets custody of Groundhog?"

All eyes, be they simulated or not, turned to look at Will, and then back at Barricade, Miles, and Groundhog. Fortunately, Groundhog had been rescued from whatever disturbing organic site he had got himself trapped on. Unfortunately, he happened to hear Will's comment, and stared at the Captain completely confused. Groundhog once again found himself at a point where he was unsure rather to be offended or freaked out. Considering it meant that he was referred to as the child of an organic and his old team leader, _again_, and this time not even by the one of the two, he picked freaked out. Miles and Barricade simply looked at each other, and then spoke in unison.

"My mom."  
>"Elizabeth."<p>

Laughter around the table and for a moment the previous tenseness was forgotten. Them speaking in unison only managed to freak Groundhog out even more, the mech knowing nothing about Miles' mother.

Groundhog vented softly, "If she's anything like her son, I believe I am screwed."

"Should've stayed with the 'cons, dude." Sam teased, grinning. Then he got up, looking to Miles. "C'mon, Wheeljack said he finished our shoes and left 'em on our beds."

Barricade looked to Bumblebee, "Go with them. I don't want to clean up organic chunks later."

* * *

><p>"Barry, they're watching us." Miles said, looking up from the chess board, and glancing over.<p>

Bumblebee, Groundhog, and Sam sat on another couch, the group having moved to the rec-room and lost some of it's previous members a while ago. Miles and Barricade sat facing each other on the floor, a chess board in between them. Bumblebee, Sam, and Groundhog all were looking at them.

Barricade grunted, "That they are."

Miles rolled his eyes, before moving one of his pieces. He stayed silent, but kept looking pointedly at Barricade, and then at the others. Finally, Barricade grew annoyed enough to turn to the other three in the room.

"What?" Barricade snapped, while Miles grinned.

"You're training him to talk?" Bumblebee asked, snorting.

"I won't be there to ask his questions all the time, Bee." Miles replied, ignoring the glare he got from the ex-con. "Now why are you three staring? I know I'm hot, but Sam already has pictures of me to drool over."

Sam snickered, "Narcissist, and Groundhog brought up a question a while ago that has us all wondering. Just how did you survive being alone with 'Cade without him killing you for so long?"

"Truthfully?" Miles asked, speaking before Barricade could get a sarcastic remark in. "I let him think he could train me."

This remark took both Groundhog and Barricade by surprise, but Bumblebee and Sam not so much. Sam had long ago accepted the fact that his friend would always be strange, but it seemed to help him when it came to taming Barricade, so he didn't mind. Bumblebee had merely accepted all humans as strange creatures.

"Excuse me? You let me_ think_ that I could train you?" Barricade asked in disbelief, staring at Miles.

"Barry, that's the main reason I really talked about Mason in the first place." Miles stated calmly, trying hard not to grin. It was rare when he could get Barricade so off guard, especially in public. "I thought mentioning the training system might have a good effect, because I was really hoping for an easy way to deal with you, and it worked like a charm. You were a lot easier to deal with if you thought you were 'training me'."

Both of them had treated each other differently back when they had first met. Miles had been a lot more cautious, though Barricade probably didn't think so. Barricade held a lot more respect for the squishy organic now.

"He tried to train you through rewards? That's priceless!" Sam laughed, "How'd he do it?"

"Well, he couldn't exactly give me treats, so he started calling me by my name more. He also referred to the organic race as a whole in more pleasant ways, and let me touch him more. It made dealing with him a lot easier, since he was a tad more pleasant. Besides that, I did it so he'd have an easier time adjusting to the fact he only had a tiny organic who he couldn't kill as company, but I think it worked out well for both of us in the end. But I also think that's what caused our fight just before I went with the Allspark shard retrieval group, so that was a drawback."

Barricade cursed loudly in Cybertronian, startling Miles and drawing all eyes to him. The ex-con growled at Miles, "You were training me when I thought I was training you, you little son of a glitch!"

Sam started to laugh again, and Miles smirked. Bumblebee was attempting to help Groundhog understand everything, so they reacted very little. When Groundhog was all caught up, he looked between his old team leader and the organic that had befriended him first.

"You were lucky enough to be found by a very smart organic, Barricade." Groundhog said, sounding as amused as he actually was. "What I'd like to really know, though, is when you started feeling towards him as something more than a mere being you had to put up with as a means to reach a preferred end."

"I'd actually like to know that, myself." Miles leaned back, studying the board. "I'm pretty sure I only got more annoying when I realized that you wouldn't kill me. Especially when I realized we had a friendship in the making."

Barricade grimaced, "It was not a friendship in the ma-"

"If you're still going to deny that you like him, especially when you are actually his Guardian now, I think I'm going to _bitch slap_ you." Bumblebee deadpanned and then paused, Sam laughing at his side. He continued, "In both holoform and bipedal form!"

"I'd pay to see that," Groundhog smirked, "But I'd pay even more to find out when Barricade started getting emotions."

"You are all pathetic," Barricade sneered, "And there is no way of escaping this, is there?"

"Nope, it's time to talk about your feelings!" Miles grinned, sitting up in interest, and to have a better look at the ex-con.

"It was the formulation of several things." Barricade got a pillow tossed at his face for that, courtesy of Sam.

"C'mon, _Barry_," Sam used his best friend's favorite name for the ex-con, "Further your explanation of 'several things' and do so in as much detail concerning the particular event as possible!"

Bumblebee looked at his Charge, and Sam just shrugged, saying Barricade couldn't possibly misunderstand the newest instructions. The teen completely ignored when Barricade snarled at him over the nick name, not caring in the least. If Miles hadn't been afraid, and still wasn't afraid, then Sam wouldn't be afraid, either. Didn't mean he'd make a habit of it, htough.

Besides the snarl, Barricade stayed silent, moving a piece on the board.

"I was making sure I had a good enough knowledge about the customs of this planet. At that point I still really wasn't into having lengthy conversations with the fleshling, which meant he was just sitting around. From boredom, I assume, he ended up falling asleep on me."

To Sam and Miles, this didn't really seem like much. To Bumblebee and Groundhog it explained a lot, however.

"That? Well, I guess to you it might have been revelation inducing, but I was just really bored." Miles huffed, having been hoping for something a little more heartfelt.

"I could have, well I still could, kill you in a second flat, and you still were stupid enough to fall asleep on me. It was almost endearing, in an extremely naïve sort of way. And then I got disgusted and shoved you off, managing to hurt you because I hadn't yet learned how fragile you fleshlings are. Of course, you woke up thinking you had done it to yourself, you never even suspected me."

Miles looked up from the chess board in disbelief, "You pushed me? Barry!"

"That you were stupid enough to believe that you yourself had just rolled off was even more revelation inducing, along with the fact of how fragile you organics are, so you should be happy." Barricade replied, before glancing at the teen. "And you're not allowed to get angry at me over that when it was months ago."

Bumblebee shook his head in amusement, while Groundhog snorted at his old leader. Sam was looking between the two, torn between amusement and exasperation.

"Okay, well, what about you, Miles?" Sam asked.

"Before the aft got me detention, I know that. I can't really pinpoint where, exactly. Unlike Barry, I had feelings before I met him." Miles grinned, and when Barricade went to protest he corrected himself. "Alright, feelings besides anger, irritation, exasperation, boredom, hatred, etc. Probably some neutral ones, since you did have the RTP team."

"You got him detention?" Bumblebee asked Barricade, raising a finely simulated blonde eyebrow.

"I texted him during school. The glitch had the sound on, not my fault." Barricade didn't bother looking at the Autobot, just taking his turn.

"Ruined my perfect record, but he did get Trent back when he was still pulling the evil jock." Miles moved a piece while talking.

"Hmm," Groundhog leaned back in his seat, thinking. "The whole thing was a lot less… epic than what I had been imagining. Kind of a letdown, actually."

"I know what you mean; I always thought Miles had to have pulled some amazing feat to get 'Cade to like him. It's all been a lie!" Sam sighed dramatically, grinning. "Guess we should have been there to see that amazing first."

"Speaking of firsts," Miles smirked, "Checkmate, Barry."

Barricade eyed the board, before sighing and grumbling under his breath. "Damn."


	49. The trap pt1: Negotiations denied

**AN: ***le gasp* AN UPDATE? Finally! It's been nearly a while month since I last updated this, and it's now 2012! I want at least **FIVE** reviews before the next chapter, but more would be appreciated! Getting feedback, even a simple "Love the story!" encourages me to do the next chapter quicker. And also, I'd love to see if anyone had any suggestions for me!

**Reviews: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed! (_MissShelz, Sharta, DarkHunter643, writergurl616, shadow-dog18_)

**AN2: **I've been working on my Imprinting story, the one where I actually have Barricade and Miles and Bumblebee and Sam. Then I also wrote a little piece centered on BarricadexBumblebee, and I plan to write a sort of prequel to that. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING PATIENT WITH ME AND WAITING UNTIL I GOT AROUND TO WRITING THIS!

_**Chapter 49  
>The trap part 1: negotiations denied<strong>_

* * *

><p>It wasn't until the base wide alert system was triggered that they had any idea something was wrong. Teletran I had been turned on, Ratchet having put Red Alert into forced recharge, and everyone else doing some other sort of business. Teletran I was an extensive back up program created by the Autobots long ago, and the program even had surveillance cameras that could propel themselves through the air for a short amount of time. Red Alert had updated Teletran, the original Cybertronian version, to Teletran I, having it use human speech and time systems.<p>

The only downside to the updated version is that Perceptor had been the one to invent Teletran in the first place, and without the Scientist there, Red Alert could only do so much with Teletran I. If ever under attack, Teletran I would first alert them just before the attacking party of Decepticons crossed what would count as the outer perimeter. It was normally expected that they would know when they were being attacked, or be able to assume it, at least. This, however, shocked them all.

A computerized voice came through calmly, belittlingly the important information being told.

"_Decepticon signatures crossing the outer perimeter line in less than two minutes. Five minutes before Wheeljack's lab, and 10 before Dinobot den is reached. Defensive maneuvers suggested to be taken. Notable spark signatures that have been placed on the exceedingly dangerous list: Megatron, Shockwave, Skywarp, and Starscream. One other detected besides that._"

The alert was followed quickly by Red alert's panicked scream of "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! ALL SOLDIERS REPORT TO THE MAIN STRATEGY ROOM TO RECIEVE ORDERS FROM PROWL!"

Orion was grabbed by Ratchet before Teletran I had even finished "crossing the outer perimeter", and the Medbot had beaten the SIC to the makeshift strategy room. The room was the same exact one used for any meetings, as the 'bots had no other room that could fit most of them, minus Skyfire.

Red Alert followed Ratchet inside, and then Prowl came rushing up, carrying Fig and Graham. Jazz followed up with Will and Epps, and then came Groundhog, carrying Wheelie, Trent, and Mikaela, followed by Skyfire in his holoform. They waited for Barricade, Bumblebee, and the other two teens. Teletran I's computerized warning of "Three minutes before Wheeljack's lab," came on before Bumblebee entered the makeshift strategy room, frantically looking around.

"Where are Sam and Miles?" The young Autobot Scout asked, looking at Prowl with worry.

Prowl frowned, "We believed they were with the two of you. Who were they last seen with?"

Every organic and mech looked around the room, and Skyfire's holoform quickly raised a hand to indicate that he had been with them.

"They had been practicing with the shoes Wheeljack had made for them when Teletran I's alert came on. I was paying attention to the message, so I don't know exactly when they disappeared, but I assume it was about the time the Dinobot's den was mentioned. The two seem to have a strong attachment to the three Earth-made Cybertronians." Skyfire remarked, purposefully looking straight at Red Alert. The paranoid 'bot was the least likely to freak out about the two teens being gone. Everyone merely gaped for a moment.

"YOU JUST LET THEM GO?" Bumblebee yelled, dissolving into angry Cybertronian as he advanced on the Scientist's holoform. Prowl reached out and put a servo on the irate Scout's shoulder, forcefully stopping him.

"Enough." Prowl ordered, glaring between the two mechs. "Now is not the time. I understand your worry, Bumblebee, and I am worried too. However, there is no way to fix this, and just running blindly after them could end up doing more harm than good."

Bumblebee hesitated for just a moment, before nodding. He was never one to disobey a direct order, especially if the order was the more sensible than what his own processor was telling him to do. It helped that Skyfire's holoform's frown was laced with guilt.

Prowl dropped his servo, stepping back to look at everyone in the room. "Megatron, Shockwave, Starscream, and Skywarp. We can only assume the extra is Thundercracker, given that the head trine is almost always together. Outside of Megatron, Skywarp's ability to warp makes him the most dangerous. Jazz, you are to try and take him down and disable his warping abilities, that is your highest priority minus protecting one of the organics or managing a killing blow. Under no circumstances are you to go after Megatron, we do not wish him to receive two pieces of you again."

Jazz nodded, though the quip about his previous face to face with Megatron did make everyone wince a little. It was a needed reminder, however. Jazz could occasionally get too cocky, and take on more than he could chew in a battle. That hadn't been what drove him to face Megatron alone, though.

"Skyfire, I want you to take on Starscream. Given your past knowledge of each other, I want you to use any weaknesses of his that you know." A pause. "I do not care if you do believe he was reprogrammed, do you understand? Even if he was, he is here to kill. You, the organics. Orion. If the opportunity arises, do not hesitate. Red Alert, you will be aiding him."

Prowl had saved Orion for last, knowing how attached Skyfire had become to the Sparkling. He was attached to the organics and the other Cybertronians as well, but Orion would be an even greater blow to the Scientist. The Sparkling signified all that he hoped for; a return to innocence, and the knowledge that new life could still be made among them. Skyfire nodded numbly.

"Ratchet and I will be taking on Megatron. Bumblebee and Barricade, you are charged with retrieving Sam and Miles, _if_ possible." Prowl made sure to stress the if, "There will be no going out of your way to do so. Until you find an appropriate opportunity, you will help the organic soldiers, or Groundhog. Groundhog, you will be going after Shockwave. Lennox, Fig, Epps, and Graham, you all will be going after Thundercracker. All of us will take a priority to check in on each of you ever minute to ensure your safety. Wheelie, you are to stay here and guard Trent, Mikaela, and Orion."

Wheelie nodded, straightening as much as he could with pride, given that he had just been charged with protecting two of the treasured organics, and the only Sparkling seen on either side for years. Bumblebee begrudgingly nodded, while Barricade simply stared impassively. Groundhog and the soldiers each nodded, standing straight at attention.

Prowl looked at all of them, optics glinting with what most could now recognize as resigned sadness.

"Roll out, soldiers. May Primus be with all of us."

* * *

><p>Sam and Miles raced to the Dinobot den, Sam watching out carefully for any sign of the Decepticons on ground while Miles scanned the sky. Wheeljack had provided them with shoes that, when pressed right, put out wheels. They were kind of like wheelies, except they had more wheels like actual rollerblades to help with balance. On top of that, if pressed again, they could control speed. Nothing as fast as what any of the Cybertronians could go, but faster than what even the fastest recorded human speed could do.<p>

Neither talked, both too nervous to do so. Sam was already terrified, remembering Megatron all too well from Mission City. For Miles it was Shockwave, having taken most of the Decepticon's attention while they were rescuing Orion. And now the two were racing towards the Dinobots, Earth-made Cybertronians that they saw almost as little brothers.

Sam was the first to get there, Miles using his own momentum to slingshot Sam forward even faster. He burst into the makeshift home given to the Dinobots, startling the three of them.

"Me Grimlock no afraid of Decepticons! This me Grimlock's home, me Grimlock destroy for them Decepticons intruding!" Grimlock shouted just as Miles came racing in. That meant that Teletran I's message had reached the three Dinobots. Swoop and Snarl roared in agreement.

"No!" Sam hissed, walking closer to all of them. "Please, try to understand. We need you to be quiet, and for all of us to go stand in this corner over here." Sam pointed to the corner, the one farthest away from where they assumed the Decepticons would be walking.

"Me Grimlock go attack him Megatron! Them Swoop and Snarl protect you Sam and Miles, us Dinobot family!" Grimlock slammed his tail on the ground, blue optics flaring to red with anger.

"Grimmy! Because we're family you need to do what we ask. It's dangerous, and Sam and I are really scared. We need to wait until they pass by. If you don't, Sam and I will be hurt." Miles said softly, pulling the guilt card.

Grimlock deflated almost instantly, "Me Grimlock and them Swoop and Snarl want fight them Decepticons."

"After they pass by, you can." Sam said, looking up at the large Dinobot. "We'll wait until we hear Teletran I alert that they've made it to the others, and then while they're fighting Swoop can fly Miles and me, while holding you, over them. Snarl can go the longer way around, and then surprise them with a charge. We'll wait for Snarl to come in before surprising them."

Grimlock turned to Swoop and Snarl, and the three communicated in their own language. It was Cybertronian, and it wasn't English. No one had been able to figure out anything Swoop and Snarl said besides Grimlock, which was why Grimlock was the leader. Grimlock turned back to his beloved Sam and Miles. Besides Grimlock, the two of them were the best at understand Swoop and Snarl.

"Me Grimlock and them Swoop and Snarl agree."

Sam couldn't help but sigh in relief. Grimlock reached down, picking Miles up in his mouth, while Swoop grabbed Sam with his wings. They then proceeded to carry the two surprised teens to the corner, placing them down where they wanted them. Miles and Sam went first, while Swoop stood in front of them, wings out stretched and hiding them from view completely. Then was Snarl, and finally Grimlock. The Dinobots had formed a protective barrier around the teens just in case.

* * *

><p>Megatron stood watching the Autobots in front of him with a smirk, holding a servo up to hold his own soldiers. Starscream and Shockwave flanked him, while Skywarp and Thundercracker were transformed and in the air. He eyed each of the Autobots there, noting the three Decepticons, the four organics behind all of them, and that all were battle ready.<p>

Prowl stood with Ratchet in the front, with Barricade, Jazz, and Bumblebee behind them. Jazz and Bumblebee stood close to Barricade on either side. Skyfire, Red Alert, and Groundhog stood behind them, in front of the organics. Everyone, even Groundhog, was waiting to see what Barricade would do. He had once been one of the most loyal mechs to Megatron, and this would be the first time he had ever seen his ex-leader since the 'con had died in Mission City. Prowl knew that if Barricade switched sides now it would be a huge blow to everyone, especially Miles, Bumblebee, and Optimus.

"What's this, Prowl?" Megatron asked, false sweetness dripping off of his voice. "All of you look ready for a fight. As SIC, shouldn't you be trying to avoid that? I suppose as you are no true leader, I should point out that to protect the_ limited_ mechs and disgusting organics under your command by trying to reach an agreement should be your first priority." The Decepticon leader's optics fell on Jazz and Bumblebee in turn, before returning back to Prowl.

Megatron's use of the word limited had two meanings. One was the few warriors they had on their side. Six experienced Cybertronian fighters, Ratchet and Red Alert not seeing battle that much, though even Megatron would have to admit Ratchet was a formidable opponent. Eight Cybertronians in total, with four experienced organic soldiers. The second meaning was an insult, claiming that every last one of them was pathetic mentally and physically. Both Jazz and Bumblebee bristled at the insult, Megatron having singled them out especially.

Jazz grumbled angrily, but Prowl held up a servo.

"You have a point, Megatron." Prowl acceded, tilting his helm in acknowledgement. Ratchet had sent an alert out to Optimus and the others, and they had confirmed it was a set up. Keeping the Decepticon leader talking would mean less fighting, and more opportunity for the others to get there.

Megatron smirked smugly, "Of course, Autobot. Now it is only proper for one leader to ask the other what negotiations might be made in order to stop the likelihood of a battle."

"Don't be stupid, oh great leader." Starscream sneered sarcastically, though his optics remained slowly on Skyfire. "The longer you talk, the more opportunity for your better, the Prime, to get here."

Megatron moved to hit the Seeker, but Shockwave stepped in front of the Air Commander, reminding Megatron that Starscream was at least right in one regard. The longer they spent talking, the sooner Prime could get back.

"I will deal with your insubordination later, Starscream." Megatron snarled, before calming himself and turning back to Prowl.

"As you said," Prowl stared back, expressive as a glacier, "it is only proper for me to ask what negotiations might be made. Under what terms would you consider turning around and leaving us alone, included with a designated time period for a cease fire on both sides?"

"I want Samuel James Witwicky, and the other organic." Megatron stated, optics glinting. "The boy, and his pathetic little friend. What was his name, again? Ah, yes, the Lancaster fellow that Shockwave seemed to take a liking to."

Asking was just another insult to all of them, saying that an organic they had taken in as their own was too far beneath Megatron for the Decepticon Leader to remember his name, even with the fact that he contained some of the power of the Allspark. Ratchet sent a warning glare to Barricade, but the ex-con had turned even less expressive than Prowl, and that was saying something.

"You request two of the members of our faction, and expect to receive them? Being such a great and experienced leader, I would assume you see how faulty this course of action is." Prowl shot back, finally getting an insult back at Megatron.

Megatron growled, glaring at the SIC. "Lancaster would be more of a present for Shockwave; he's wanted a socket for a while now. Witwicky would be mine to use as I see fit.

Bumblebee snarled, and was ready to leap at the Decepticon Leader, if it hadn't been for Barricade placing a hand on his shoulder. Megatron sneered when he show the touch.

"Getting cozy with the Autobots, traitor?" Megatron asked, glaring at a mech who had previously been one of the most loyal he had ever had.

"I'm right where I belong, _Lord Megatron_." Barricade spat the title out, glaring at his once leader.

"Spending time with that pathetic organic has messed with your processor, Barricade!" Megatron snapped angrily, "And being with the Autobots has made you even weaker! Your disgusting emotional ties with these pathetic mechs and organics! I have reports saying a tiny organic has you _tamed_! You can't tell me you honestly think you could ever be like any of them? You were great once. You could return to that, return to me."

Barricade looked at his old leader with nothing but contempt, "The fact that I am 'weak' and need emotional ties to make me content now means I fit in perfectly." Barricade was echoing something Bumblebee had said long ago, "And it seems you have replaced me with Shockwave, anyway. Tell me, Shockwave, how does it feel to know that you're Megatron's fallback when his organic and Autobot loving traitor turns on him?"

Shockwave's single optic flared with anger, though there was no other reaction.

"Your terms are regretfully turned down, Megatron." Prowl said, while everyone on his side got ready to battle once more. "And you're a dumbaft for asking in the first place."

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" Megatron growled, "Skywarp, find the organics and bring them to me!"

Skywarp went to follow the command, only to have Jazz jump on his back and try to steer him. The Saboteur had seen Sunstreaker and Sideswipe perform their jet-judo many times, and now used it against the flying Seeker. Shockwave slipped past the Autobot's, pulling out his cannon to shoot at Barricade. Bumblebee tackled the Scientist from the side, sending the both of them crashing to the ground.

Skywarp warped with Jazz still on his back, desperate to get the Autobot off. He appeared behind Ratchet, knocking into the surprised medic, before disappearing again and hitting Thundercracker next. Chaos ensued.


	50. The trap pt2: Stolen

**AN:** Oh my gosh. This was over 4,000 words and up to ten pages in my Microsoft Word Starter! I couldn't find a satisfying place to end this chapter. This makes fifty chapters, 330 reviews, and 150,000 words. Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews, and any ideas you may have given me! I have no idea how much longer TC will continue, but sheesh! Like usual, I want at least five reviews before I update the next ch., but you guys are pretty good at that!

**Reviews: **Thanks to all who reviewed! (_Sharta, MissShelz, Iwanita, shadow-dog18, Noella50881, supergirlprime, sant04, Oedipa13_)  
>supergirlprime: I believe I explained everything quite thoroughly in the PM! If anyone has any questions like sgp did go ahead and ask, I'll probabaly answer!<br>Oedipa13: Well, I really didn't go over Barricade's emotions, but either way he's been with the 'bots almost half a year now, and I just think Soundwave would have more of a hard time than Barricade concerning talking to Megatron!

**_Chapter 50  
>The trap part 2: Stolen<em>**

* * *

><p>The front of the base was a mess. Pavement was torn up from mechs hitting it, and there were skid marks and scratches of paint on it as well. The entire front wall was down, leaving a gaping entrance into the main hall. At one point Skywarp had teleported too close to the wall and slammed into it, breaking some of it down. And another time Groundhog had been tossed into it by Thundercracker.<p>

"Oh, esteemed leader." Starscream called from his spot on the battle field.

Starscream and Skyfire were the only two not exactly fighting. They stood mere feet apart from each other, servos interlocked as each tried to push the other back. Even with Skyfire's greater size they were just about even, and the fact that Skyfire wasn't trying to hurt him. The two had done more staring at each other than even actual pushing. Since Skyfire didn't seem to need any help, Red Alert had slowly disappeared back inside the base with the organics, Wheelie, and Orion. He went slowly to avoid drawing attention to himself, coming all the 'bots and used to be Decepticons to tell them where he was stationed. Prowl thoroughly approved, being happy that somemech besides Wheelie to guard the civilian organics and Orion.

Megatron, however, was currently trying to fend off both Ratchet and Prowl. What Prowl lacked in strength and speed, Ratchet easily made up for. What Ratchet lacked in skilled fighting, Prowl easily made up for. The Medic had to be strong for his larger patients, and fast for his more speedy patients. Prowl was SIC of the entire Autobot army, and his battle computer was one of the best around. It could compute scenarios and options in less than a second. It was no wonder that he ignored his SIC.

Out of the entire Autobot army, if found alone by a group of Decepticons, they were the only two Autobots who didn't have a kill order over their heads, they were to be captured instead. They were just too valuable.

Shockwave was in a deadlock with Barricade. Barricade's sheer stubbornness put him on an even playing field with Shockwave's greater intelligence, and both were about the same size and strength. The Decepticon was doing more evading; trying to drag an irrational and stupid reaction out of the ex-con, but so far none of it had been working. He spent most of his time trying to goad the location of either organic out of him.

Skywarp was fighting Jazz, having taken to the ground finally. Jazz had finally pulled the right wires to mess with his warping abilities, and that left Skywarp more than a little pissed off. As it would turn out, Skywarp was just as good fighting on the ground as he was in the air. Groundhog was stuck fighting Thundercracker, and they both had the advantage of knowing each other's moves. They both had the disadvantage of the other knowing their moves. The soldiers were down on the ground, attempting to shoot one of Thundercracker's wings out of commission. Bumblebee alternated between helping Groundhog, and helping Jazz.

Besides Skyfire and Starscream, each mech had at least some wounds on them. Jazz and Prowl were the worst, both covered in dents and scratches that leaked Energon. One of Prowl's doorwings had nearly been torn off by Megatron, and the SIC had to shut off the sensors in that wing as to not be taken out of the battle already. Doorwings were highly sensitive, especially to pain. That was the first thing Megatron had gone after.

Given that everymech besides Starscream and Skyfire were fighting, it was no wonder that only those two paid any attention to the sound of Snarl flying in overhead. Skyfire said nothing, knowing the Dinobots already. Starscream stared with wide optics, opening his mouth to say something just as what looked like an oddly shaped Seeker dropped something large right over Megatron.

Starscream took his optics off Skyfire for a second, "Oh great and wondrous leader."

"What, Starscream?" Megatron snarled, "I'm busy!"

"I just thought you'd like to know that there's something falling towards you, but given your amazing abilities, you probably already realized this."

Megatron looked up in surprise, making out a large and oddly shaped metallic being falling at him at a fast rate. Prowl and Ratchet paused and looked up with him, both taking hasty steps backwards as Grimlock fell smack dab on top of Megatron. Megatron automatically buckled his knees, allowing his body to move to the ground without any resistance. Resisting the heavy load would just end up hurting him more.

Shockwave was trying to get by his leaders side, while everymech else had stopped fighting. The Decepticons, minus Megatron, stared in surprise at the newest and oddest looking Cybertronian they had ever seen.

Grimlock roared triumphantly, tail slamming on the ground. "ME GRIMLOCK SQUASH HIM MEGATRON!"

"Grimmy, get off him! He's not dead!" Sam called; safely up on Swoop's back still. Miles sat beside him, surveying the situation down below.

Sam's warning was too late for the Dinobot leader. Megatron growled, moving his servos and grabbing Grimlock by his peds. He then proceeded to stand up, pulling the Dinobot with him and then tossing him towards Ratchet and Prowl. Grimlock landed heavily on Prowl, the poor SIC groaning under the heavy weight of the Dinobot. Snarl came charging into the scene, growling and pawing at the ground with a ped as he awaited orders.

"SAM, MILES!" Bumblebee yelled, looking up at his Charge with worry. "GET DOWN FROM THERE!"

Megatron laughed, "Thundercracker, Skywarp, Starscream, get the organics! "

Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Starscream took to the air immediately. Skyfire followed Starscream up, chasing the Air Commander off even as Skywarp and Thundercracker went after Swoop. Swoop roared as Skywarp crashed into him, tilting dangerously and knocking both teens off of him. Skyfire turned his attention from Starscream to them, diving desperately and trying to catch both of them.

Thundercracker dived, catching a screaming Miles in both servos just as Skyfire managed to grab Sam. Skyfire flew down low, dropping Sam into Bumblebee's waiting servos. Thundercracker flew to Starscream, tossing a struggling Miles to his trine leader. Starscream caught the teen as easily as if he was a sack of flour, diving down and landing beside Megatron.

"Give him up, Megatron!" Prowl demanded.

Megatron sneered, "Give Shockwave his little socket, Starscream. Shockwave, permission to return to base granted."

Miles went flying through the air yet another time, landing in the grip of Shockwave with a startled yell. The Scientist transformed in a second, racing off and leaving the teen trapped inside of him. Barricade transformed instantly, chasing after the 'con.

"Groundhog, flank me!" The ex-con called to his old teammate, Groundhog transforming and following his old boss.

Bumblebee stared after the two in surprise, Sam held close in his servo, and Thundercracker took the opportunity to attack, knocking the Scout into the ground with a kick.

* * *

><p>Optimus Prime had led his team back to land as soon as he had gotten the update from Teletran I. The only thing they had found was the ship that had belonged to team Alpha Minor B. No mech had been in sight, the ship had been completely empty. It looked as if team Alpha Minor B had been chased off, Energon cubes lying on the floor half drunk.<p>

They had landed on the ground, a scouting team sent out first. They weren't fools to think Megatron wouldn't have anything waiting for them, and they were right. The team, consisting of Soundwave and his cassetticons, had been ambushed by Menasor. Optimus had gone down quickly to help the Decepticon turned Neutral, followed by everyone else.

They quickly found out that Menasor wasn't the only one waiting for them. Hook and two seekers, Thrust and Dirge, were there as well.

Pairing up with Soundwave and the cassetticons, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe took Menasor down. It was made easier seeing as Soundwave could read Menasor's combined mind. The twins minor took on the two seekers, and for once the twins major didn't yell at them for copying their jet judo moves.

Optimus Prime looked at Hook, and Hook raised his servos in a gesture of peace.

"I'm a slaggin' Medic, not a fighter." Hook said, grinning. "Lord Megatron never said I had to do any fighting. Besides, even _I'm_ afraid of the true Autobot leader."

"Even Unicron fears that Medic." Ironhide grumbled, eyeing the Decepticon medic wearily.

Hook would never make a move even as his teammates were taken down. Either way, even Optimus would keep an eye on the Decepticon Medic up until they went racing off towards the base. Hook watched them leave silently.

Every Decepticon that formed Menasor were lying apart from each other, sprawled on the ground out cold. Thrust lay next to his fellow fallen Seeker, Ramjet. Ramjet was out cold as well, and Thrust was the only one besides Hook who remained awake.

Thrust hissed from his spot on the ground, "How dare you help the Autobots!"

"I'm the one fixing you, dumbaft. How could I do that if I needed help myself?" Hook growled in reply.

"So you really do care about us?" Thrust asked in disbelief, staring at the Medic.

Hook snorted, "Don't get me confused, you stupid Seeker. As disgusting as they may be, I have an investment in that Sparkling, and if I keep playing nice they might make me a play date. Besides, Megatron left me in charge of calling Grindor."

Thrust just groaned in response. It was no secret in the Decepticon ranks that Hook was Sparkling crazy, though none of them could understand how someone like him could go, as the humans said, gaga over babies. Hook just smirked, contacting his leader and get an update on the situation. He then comm'd Grindor.

_:Grindor, help Shockwave.:_

* * *

><p>Shockwave sped to one of the few Decepticon mini-ships that were still completely intact, reaching it and transforming. As he did a large Decepticon stepped out of the ship, looking at him with cold red optics.<p>

"Grindor, how nice of you to join us."

Grindor eyed the Scientist warily, and then the organic in his palm. "Why speak in English?"

"Knowing what is to come and having nothing to do but wait is much more satisfying, don't you agree?"

"Is that _the_ organic?" Grindor was referring to Samuel James Witwicky. He had never seen the teen personally, but he did know that Megatron was pissed over having been killed by him, and the Fallen himself was angry at the teen for taking his best subordinate down.

"It is one of them." Shockwave replied, holding Miles between two fingers and showing him to Grindor. The teen stayed stubbornly silent. "He's usually a bit more talkative than this. Maybe he won't be as fun as I was hoping."

"We are to use him to resurrect the Fallen if we do not get the other one. He may not be your socket for long."

Shockwave sighed, "Indeed. I am looking forward to quite a few things with this socket. It would be a shame if he only managed to succeed in resurrecting our Master."

"Barry will get me, you one eyed freak, so don't worry about that!" Miles growled, squirming in Shockwave's grasp and glaring up at the two.

"You are right in one thing," Grindor plucked Miles out of Shockwave's hold; sneering at the tiny organic. "Barricade will come for you. And when he does, we'll rip him in two."

Miles swallowed hard, trying to think of something to say just as Barricade and Groundhog arrived on the scene. Grindor placed him on top of the ship as the two used to be Decepticons transformed.

* * *

><p>"MEGATRON!"<p>

Optimus' roar could be heard by everyone and mech in the base and outside of it. Megatron snarled, kicking Prowl's body away from him as he turned to the young Prime.

"Another day, Prime. We have what we want."

"Retreating already, Megatron?"

"It's not retreating if I've already won. Decepticons, follow me!" And with that Megatron transformed, shooting off into the sky. Thundercracker, Starscream, and Skywarp followed. Starscream and Skywarp had to keep Thundercracker in the middle of them to keep him up, the Seeker having a whole through his left wing due to Will.

Optimus Prime watched in surprise as Megatron and the Seekers hightailed it out of there, before turning to what he could see of his team. He could see Ratchet, Prowl, Bumblebee, Skyfire, and five organics. Four soldiers: Will, Epps, Graham, and Fig. One civilian: Sam. That was worrying. On top of that there was three mechs he didn't recognize right off hand, but he saw the Autobot symbol on all of them, and none of his team seemed to be weary of them.

"We has two questio's, yo!" Mudflap said, Skids nodding beside them. "What that be burnin', and who they?"

"Oh my Primus!" Wheeljack's squeal, and that's all it could be called, shocked everyone. "You actually transformed! I'm so proud of all of you!"

The Scientist ran to the three mystery mechs, pulling them all into a hug. Optimus could practically see Ratchet's optic twitch, and a mere second later he had a wrench out and lodged in Wheeljack's helm.

"WHY THE FRAG DIDN'T YOU TELL US THAT THE TYRANNOSAURUS REX, THE PTERANODON, AND THE TRICERATOPS WERE _ALT MODES!_" Ratchet seethed, looming over a terrified Wheeljack.

"Holy frag!" Sideswipe gaped, "Those are the Dinobots!"

"I wasn't sure if they would ever actually be able to do it, Ratch, I swear! Otherwise I would have told you!" Wheeljack raised his servos up in an attempt to get the Medic calmed down.

"ME GRIMLOCK TRANSFORM AND MAKE FIRE!" Grimlock roared proudly, reverting back to his Tyrannosaurus Rex alt mode. Swoop and Snarl followed his example.

"Oh. They figured out that part too, huh?" Wheeljack asked, smiling nervously at Ratchet.

Ratchet growled, "Yes, they did. They nearly roasted my aft off!"

"And here we thought that smell was just your bad temper." Ironhide said sarcastically, moving around the Medbot to grab his Charge.

Up until he ended up flat on his aft with a pissed off Medic right above them.

Optimus silently prayed to Primus that he wouldn't start developing what Will often referred to as migraines brought on by the stupidity of his subordinates.

"Prowl, status report." Optimus ordered.

Prowl sat up slowly, groaning as he did so. This saved Ironhide from Ratchet's wrath, the Medic appearing by the SIC's side in an instant to help.

"Red Alert is inside with Mikaela, Trent, Wheelie, and Orion. Sam, Epps, and Graham are unharmed. Will has taken shrapnel to the side after destroying one of Thundercracker's wings with his ability. I am functioning at 55%. Groundhog and Barricade's whereabouts are unknown. They were last seen chasing after Shockwave, who had Miles."

Optimus turned to Sam immediately. He knew that the teen, Epps, and Will could feel Miles through the odd bond they shared. It was much like a Cybertronian's bond to another, only normally they couldn't feel each other's emotions.

"He's alive, but besides that we don't know anything." Sam said sadly, practically wilting in Bumblebee's servo. Bumblebee clicked at his Charge soothingly.

Optimus sighed, opening his mouth to say something, but stopping when everymech received a message on the public comm channel.

_:Grindor's on my aft, heading back to base. HELP!:_ A desperate plea from Groundhog, the poor Medic in training a good deal smaller than Grindor, and weaker. The only reason he had survived was because of his excellent survival instinct, and years in the Race Track Patrol.

A second later, and Groundhog was driving up to them, shooting past them towards Ratchet and Prowl and screeching to a halt. Grindor followed in the air. Like Megatron, he had taken a flight alt mode, despite not being a Seeker originally. This required intense changing of the body.

Ironhide powered up his cannon, and took a single shot. He hit one of Grindor's rotating blades, destroying it and sending the mech off balance. Grindor, seeing he was outnumbered and had no chance, chose to fly away, or at least try to.

"COWARD!" Ironhide bellowed, growling angrily at the retreating Decepticon.

Groundhog transformed quickly, "We have to hurry, Barricade's alone with Shockwave!"

"You go. Comm me if you need help." Ratchet said gently, placing a calming servo on the worried mech's shoulder.

"What if he needs a Medic?"

"You are a Medic, remember? The best way to learn is to experience it firsthand. Go."

* * *

><p>Miles watched the battle between Shockwave and Barricade in silent horror. The teen was terrified of Shockwave winning, not wanting to be used to resurrect some Master, and he knew that Shockwave wouldn't let Barricade live if he could help it. The two were about evenly matched, which only made Miles worry more.<p>

It wasn't until Barricade had Shockwave pinned to the ground, one of the saws he had originally used to scare Sam slowly cutting into the Scientist's spark chamber, that he stopped worrying. And even then, he would have continued to do so if he didn't see what looked like Groundhog's alt mode just off in the distance, followed by a flash of yellow.

"Any last words, glitch?" Barricade asked sarcastically, slowing the saw down just a bit.

"I'm taking you to with me.

Miles stared in shock as Shockwave pulled his one arm free, transforming it into a cannon and firing at Barricade's spark chamber. In the next instant, Barricade's saw entered his own, connecting with his spark and offlining him immediately. Barricade staggered away from the dead Scientist, servo going to the place he had been shot, before falling to the ground a few yards away.

"BARRY!" Miles screamed, scrambling down from the ship as quickly as possible, and running to his downed friend. "BARRY, GET UP!"

Groundhog came racing on to the scene, transforming and grabbing Miles just before the teen could make it. Bumblebee was hot on his heel, and transformed a mere second after him. Miles found himself flying through the air yet another time that day, but this time he found himself in Bumblebee's servo. Miles turned to watch Groundhog kneel beside Barricade and get to work, but was then distracted by Sam.

"Miles!" Sam called happily, climbing out of Bumblebee's left servo to get into his right servo and join his best human friend. "I swear to Primus I'll offline you myself if you ever do that to me again!"

Miles grinned, "I owe you like another week and two days of being scared to death, bro. Now you know how I felt even with Skyfire there."

Bumblebee chuckled, setting the two on the ground and activating his holoform so it could stand by Sam.

"Did you two know that the Dinobots could transform?" Bumblebee asked.

Miles stared back at him in confusion, but Sam grinned.

"Wheeljack told me at some point, but we didn't think they'd ever manage it. They do seem a bit, uhm…" Sam tried to think of a nice way to say it, "Special? But in a good way! Gah!"

Miles laughed, patting Sam on the back as the teen tried to find a better way of saying it without making it seem like he was insulting the Dinobots. Sam eventually gave up, tossing his hands in the air in defeat, much to the amusement of his Guardian and friend.

"Bumblebee, get Ratchet on his way here, and on comm, please." Groundhog said more than asked, still kneeling beside Barricade.

"What?" Miles asked, looking between the two. "Is it serious? Barry will be alright, won't he?"

He didn't get an answer, but Sam gave him a reassuring smile.

"Cade's too stubborn to be offlined by someone like Shockwave. Don't worry."

Miles nodded, and they both watched as Bumblebee went over beside Groundhog, and heard Ratchet's instructions drift through the Scout's radio.

"_Prowl's worse off than we thought, so you'll just have to give me what's wrong with him._" A pause as the Medic was filled in. "_Frag, did the round enter his spark chamber? What do you mean you haven't checked? CHECK you little glitch!_"

Groundhog checked quickly, using medical overrides to access the spark chamber. "Yes, it did. There is an entrance point and an exit point, so we'll need to fix two parts of it."

"_Slagging little 'con! His Spark?_"

"It looks smaller and lighter than it should." Bumblebee said this time, glancing back at Sam and Miles. Sam was desperately trying to distract his fellow teen. He sent Ratchet a databurst of what it looked like.

"_Primus. Stimulate it, and get a response out of him. If you can, then do an emergency surgery and wait until I get there._"

"And if we can't?" Groundhog asked.

Silence for a moment. "_Does he have any bonds? Anyone to help keep him around a bit longer?_"

To a Cybertronian, bonds meant a lot. A Sparkling immediately had one connecting them to their Genitors, allowing them to feel the love and care sent their way. If they were given a caretaker, then the caretaker would generally form a bond with them. Friends could bond, coming into what was known commonly as sibling bonds. Lovers could bond, and that was known as Sparkmates. A trained medic could tell from the spark alone whether it held bonds or not, but no one but the Cybertronian in question could tell who the bonds connected to. A bond could help a mech or femme survive just that much longer, give them something to hold on to and fight for.

"No. He has none."

"_Then, if he doesn't respond, he and Shockwave will have a bit more in common._" Ratchet said bitterly, before cutting off the connection.

Groundhog set about immediately trying to get a response out of Barricade, and Bumblebee went back over to the two teens. After five minutes, Barricade's spark fading more and more the entire time, he gave up, slamming a servo on the ground. He stood up, and walked over to the three, his helm hung low.

"I can't get him to respond." Groundhog mumbled sadly.

"You did your best, Groundhog. In this situation even Ratchet wouldn't have been able to do anything." Bumblebee tried to reassure him, "You know how fatal blows to the Spark can be."

"I know, it's just…"

Sam looked up at the Decepticon Neutral, "He wouldn't blame you. Well, he might do it jokingly, but you know he wouldn't mean it. Just expect a noogie whenever you kick it."

Groundhog smiled weakly at the tiny organic. "And Miles, I'm sorry." A blink. "Miles?"

"Don't get mad at him." Sam said, both Cybertronians looking at him, and grinning. "GO BUDDY, THEY'RE ON TO YOU!"

Both moved their helms to look at Barricade, the teen scrambling on top of him and heading straight to the spark chamber.

"MILES! Don't do that!" Groundhog growled, trying to get there quick enough to grab the teen. "We don't know what a dying Spark could do to you!"

Bumblebee grabbed Groundhog's shoulder, stopping the Decepticon Neutral in his tracks. Groundhog turned to snap at him, but the Autobot Scout just shook his helm. He turned back, watching with Bumblebee and Sam as Miles lay down and tentatively reached a hand in to touch Barricade's Spark. They saw Barricade's servo twitch, and then Miles sliding into the spark chamber. Then it closed.

Groundhog tore out of Bumblebee's grasp, racing over and trying to rescue the teen. He put in every medical override he could think of, and even tried to pry Barricade's plates apart, but nothing worked. "Son of a Glitch!"

"Check his vitals." Sam said softly, Bumblebee reaching down to pick him up.

A pause as Groundhog did so, followed by a sigh. "Vitals are stabilizing. Bee, call Ratchet. Sam, that could have been potentially dangerous for him. You should have said something."

"I'd do the same for Bee, and wouldn't let anyone stop me." Sam shrugged, and Bumblebee clicked happily. Groundhog just chose to sigh again. Maybe he'd get Ratchet to teach him to throw wrenches. That would solve a lot of his problems.

* * *

><p>He could feel nothing, because there was nothing. He had a vague sense of himself, of a name, of a life that was lying just out of reach. The bare sense of memory, feeling tantalizing touches on the outside of his processor as he tried to recall stuff.<p>

He had no bonds, no connections to let him feel others. Genitors who had died when he was young, leaving the first scar on a young Spark that still had to grow as the one and only bond he had was ripped away. A caretaker who never bothered to create a bond, and later on friends who were either just like him and didn't know how to go about it, or who didn't know the feeling. The feeling of being completely and utterly alone in your own Spark, and never feeling a gentle burst of emotion brushing up against your own. Never feeling care, affection, and love sent your way and knowing those feelings were about you, for you, or just plain things like humor and exasperation.

Barricade knew he was dying. It was as evident as the fact that he was alone in doing so. He knew he had friends, some that might even miss him if he died, but only one came to the forefront of his mind, and they floated just beyond his grasp like everything else. He couldn't even work up enough energy to recall a face. He had nothing to hold on to, and his processor wouldn't even let him have that much.

The mere notion of a thought entered his processor, if this was how he would remain for the rest of eternity, before it vanished like everything else.

And suddenly there was feeling, and a voice.

"_Barry!_"

Sadness, guilt, and worry. Hope, affection, endearance, and caring. Determination that he should survive. He could feel his Spark reaching out, a face, a name, entering his mind as his Spark pulled the other closer, letting him feel more and more, and giving his Spark willing energy to help him sustain himself that much longer. And then a gentle beat started up, lulling his mind to peace even as it kept it's rhythmic thumping.


	51. The trap pt3: Moving on

**AN: **So I started watching TF:Prime, and that's what distracted me from this for like a day. Good thing it's the weekend! And gah, I'm kind of like 'to do Bxm, or not to do BxM?' That is the question! I even thought of starting a seperate little fic where it would continue of this but have them get together, but then it's like more work. xD So I don't know. The only one I know for sure they get together, or will, is Imprinting. Anyway, _FIVE_ more reviews or no chapter!

**Reviews: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed! (_MissShelz, Iwanita, Bookworm Gal, supergirlprime, DarkHunter643, Sharta, shadow-dog18, writergurl616, anonybot, 3xX-BOTDF-Xx3, Ryen Selenity Caliburn, Symphis, wolfwitch94, BrowneyedShamer_)

**_Chapter 51  
>Moving on<em>**

* * *

><p>"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HE'S STUCK?" Ratchet yelled, glaring at Bumblebee, Groundhog, and consequently Sam.<p>

Groundhog and Bumblebee were standing near the fallen body of Shockwave, next to Barricade. Bumblebee held Sam in servo, and the teen was just cannon fodder to the irate Medic.

Several things had happened in a short amount of time. Groundhog had pronounced Barricade as a goner when stimulation of the spark didn't get a reaction, Miles decided Groundhog hadn't done anything right and gotten his own reaction, and now Miles was stuck. Inside Barricade. Neither was sure what exactly happened, but Groundhog assumed that Barricade's spark called to Miles, urging the teen to slip inside his Spark chamber, or if it was possible, just pulled the teen in itself. Either way, Miles was inside of Barricade's spark chamber, and neither of them could open it.

"Miles is stuck inside Barricade's spark chamber." Groundhog repeated, rolling his optics. "It's not that big of a dea-"

THWACK! Bumblebee and Sam winced in sympathy, Groundhog rubbing his brand new dent with wide optics. A wrench clattered to the ground a few feet away.

Ratchet growled, "No big deal? What if something happens to Miles while he's inside of there?"

"Ratch," Bumblebee started placatingly, "With all that's happened we really doubted that. Both he and Sam can practically survive off Energon, they can use Allspark energy to rescue Sparklings, and each of them had abilities, though now only Epps and Sam can probably use theirs. Primus is on our side, here."

Silence from the Medic. Groundhog felt at his dent, trying to see how much effort it would take to fix it. Bumblebee and Sam just waited, the teen fairly calm. He wasn't worried at all, and Bumblebee was thankful for that.

"Let's get him open." Ratchet finally said, a good bit calmer because of what the Autobot Scout said. Years of being around the Medbot had taught Bumblebee well in the ways of calming him down.

It took them an hour. Groundhog used every medical override he knew, including the ones special tailored for Decepticons, and they didn't work. Ratchet used every medical override he knew, a good deal more than Groundhog, including the special tailored ones for Autobots. Eventually, Ratchet resorted to trying to pry Barricade's chest plates open. Both he and Groundhog had to work together, the ex-con being more stubborn than normal. Sam stood on Barricade's lower chest plates the entire time, watching them work.

An hour later and Ratchet was practically a ticking bomb, just waiting to go off on somemech or someone with pent up frustration.

"I can just see Miles." Bumblebee reported cheerfully, "Looks like he's at the bottom, underneath some of Barricade's spark. 'Cade's spark looks a good deal better than before."

"Reach in and get him." Ratchet ordered gruffly.

Bumblebee reached in carefully, making sure not to brush the spark chamber itself where Shockwave's round had gone through. His servo brushed up against Barricade's spark with no reaction from the ex-con. Until he touched Miles, that is. Barricade's spark reacted quickly, a tendril of its energy darting in through the metal plating of Bumblebee's servo and shocking him.

Bumblebee jerked back, cursing loudly. "Slagger shocked me!"

"Are you alright?" Sam asked worriedly, staring up at his Guardian.

"He's fine," Ratchet took a quick look, before snorting. "That shock was nothing more than a hard slap on the hand for you, Sam. He's just being a baby."

Bumblebee pouted at the Medic, holding his shocked servo close, while Groundhog rolled his eyes. Sam tried not to grin.

"One question, how the hell can he shock you if he's practically deader than a doornail?" A pause, and Sam gave an embarrassed smile. "Bad phrase to use, sorry."

"The spark itself can be used as a sort of last ditch defense." Ratchet responded, leaning in to look inside Barricade's spark chamber for himself. "While extremely rare, there have been stories of a Cybertronian giving off a strong enough 'shock' to kill an attacker, though normally the shocks are reserved to fight viruses that have come that far. I kind of expected it, really. I think I'll have to perform emergency surgery to stabilize his spark chamber before we can retrieve Miles."

"Then why did you have me reach in to get him?" Bumblebee asked, trying hard to keep the slight whine out of his voice. He had been spending entirely too much time with human teenagers.

"I didn't want shocked." Groundhog couldn't contain his snickers at the Medbot's words.

* * *

><p>Barricade floated in a drifting unconsciousness, not thinking or feeling. The only thing he could perceive was a continuous thump, one that occasionally quickened or slowed down, but kept going nonetheless. It kept him calm in the constant nothingness.<p>

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Pause, the beat getting weaker. Thump… Thump… Thump… Silence.

Barricade opened blurry optics, his sight taking a moment to come in to focus. There was Ratchet, hard at work at something on his own body, and Barricade realized that the mech was in his Spark chamber. He tried to say something, but his vocalizer refused to work just yet. A quick run through and he realized he couldn't access anything besides his optics and his vocalizer, and his vocalizer was being stubborn.

He tried to remember what happened, recalling Shockwave and getting shot by the mech just before killing him. Barricade could remember knowing he was dying, and then something changing. Maybe it was that thumping. He had gotten so used to the continuous thump, occasionally changing pace, but not very often. When it stopped he had woken up.

"Medic." Barricade watched as Ratchet jerked in surprise, cursing loudly in English, Spanish, and Cybertronian.

"What in the pit are you doing up?" Ratchet growled, pulling his servos out from Barricade's insides just in case there were any other surprises.

"Nice to see you, too." Barricade retorted sarcastically, rolling his optics. "Why can't I move anything lower than my helm, where's my comm frequency, and everything else?"

"You shouldn't be up yet, much less running your slagging mouth." Ratchet grunted in reply, closing Barricade's chest plates for the time being.

"The thumping stopped. My internal clock is down, but I'd guess it stopped a minute or two ago. It's what woke me up."

Ratchet was the Chief Medical Officer of the entire Autobot army, and even the Decepticons respected him. Barricade could at least trust the Medbot enough to do his job, and to explain what was going on with him. Ratchet waved his servo at him, telling him to continue.

"It was constant. I remember knowing I was dying because of that glitch, and then something… changing. Then the thumping. Sometimes it changed pace, a bit faster or slower, but nothing major. It kept me calm."

Ratchet scanned Barricade thoroughly, though he was already fairly positive he knew what Barricade had been hearing.

Ratchet hm'd in thought, "Shockwave's shot entered and exited the outer edge of your Spark chamber, making some contact with your Spark. You were dying. Groundhog came, I was busy with Prowl and didn't know what had happened, and he tried to save you. Bumblebee helped him, and Sam and Miles just stood around making the background look better. Groundhog tried to stimulate your Spark, but never received a response."

"Then how am I here?"

"Miles saved you."

Barricade blinked at the Medic, and Ratchet grinned back.

"You know those crazy organics," Ratchet said, humor evident in his voice. "Miles decides that Groundhog didn't do a good enough job in trying to save you, because it's not like he isn't a fragging Medic himself, basically. He gets it in his head that he could do a better job, touches your Spark, and you react. Then one of two things happened, but either way, I spent an hour trying to pry your fragging chest plates open to free him."

"And the fleshling is still okay."

It wasn't a question, but it wasn't an actual positive statement, either. Ratchet smirked at the ex-con.

"He's fine. Tired, but fine. He's been playing energizer bunny to you for the past week and three days. I just cut off your connection to him in that respect." Pause. "I think the thumping was his heartbeat. Do you have a bond with him?"

"I don't know."

Ratchet just nodded. Both knew it could be that no actual bond had been formed, and that the only role Miles had played was energizer bunny. They also knew that a bond could take a while to take affect for both sides, and seeing as it would possibly be between an organic and a Cybertronian, it was new territory.

"As I said, I just cut off the energy supply Miles was feeding you. Admittedly, it was fairly small by now and you could have gone without it, but someone else in your condition I'd have in stasis for a month or so more." A frown, "I don't even want you up yet, but I guess there's no choice if it's already done. We're doing it my way."

Barricade just grunted. It would be useless to argue against Ratchet, he would never win, and no one would ever be on his side if something like that happened.

"First is your optics. We'll go through the different ranges. Basic, night vision, you get the drill. I assume you've been on basic, go to night vision." Ratchet held up a mirror, holding it up so Barricade could see himself. One reason was so Barricade could see what damage he had undergone, and so that Ratchet could control the distance his optics focused on.

Barricade followed the Medbot's orders, bored already. The Medic turned off the lights, and he activated his night vision. He looked at himself, opening his mouth to make a sarcastic comment. And then he was blindsided by a strong feeling of mirth, causing him to snort in response before he could stop himself.

"Awe, don't be so hard on yourself. Primus hasn't blessed all of us with good looks."

Barricade glared at the smirking Medic, "I'm assuming some sort of bond is in effect."

"I can tell." Ratchet replied, looking entirely too amused. "We did have a fight over whether you two would get bonded or not. I believe the NEST website's fan-fiction section had such an unusual number of hits that we had to shut it down due to over trafficking."

"Frag."

* * *

><p>Miles entered Optimus' office, searching for Sam. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the young Prime sound asleep at his desk in his bipedal mode. After the trap he had been doing whatever Prime's do, and now he had fallen into recharge, leaning back in his custom made chair from the humans. That wasn't what stopped him, oh no. He knew the 'bots had learned to tune out the humans, even in their sleep.<p>

What stopped him was the make up on the Prime's face, the beginnings of what looked like a _huge_ apron, and what it said on the apron. 'Kiss the Prime, he makes kick aft Energon cookies' read the first line in big bold letters, and underneath that in what appeared to be the fine print 'And he regularly kicks the aft of Megsy-wegsy. Win-win.' His cheeks had a good deal of rouge on them, his lips painted bright red, and the shutters over his optics were covered in a light blue. It looked like he even had fake eyelashes put on. His face mask appeared to be missing.

After the front wall of the main hangar had been rebuilt, Barricade had been declared completely stable, and most of the wounds were tended to with none the worse, Optimus had decided that his soldiers could use a nice little treat. Hiding away for half the day in the kitchen, he had returned with Energon cookies, a rare treat to receive from him. All of the Autobots had been excited. Even Ratchet had stopped working on Barricade for a nanoklik to grab one, and that was saying something.

"Uhm, Optimus?" Miles called, getting no response. He climbed up on the Prime's desk before trying again. "Optimus!"

The Prime vented a gust of air, and then unshuttered one optic. "Yes?"

"Twins."

Optimus sat up immediately, looking around. Nothing on his desk had been moved, all his filing datapads were in place, his door wasn't locked, the room hadn't been painted, and nothing appeared to be out of place. He looked down at himself last, noticing the apron and reading it upside down. Miles grinned, and gestured to his face, so the Prime picked up a datapad and looked at his reflection.

Miles snickered at the look on the Prime's faceplates, "You got twin'd big time."

"Indeed." Optimus responded, sounding slightly bitter. He rubbed at the make up on his face, but it didn't come off. "I think I'll need to pay Ratchet a visit." The Prime paused, before turning an accusatory optic on Miles, "And what brought you in here?"

"I didn't help 'em!" Miles said defensively, "I was lookin' for Sam and Bee."

"It's hard to know who to trust when everymech and organic might do something to you. Minus Prowl." Optimus sighed, standing up and offering his servo to Miles. "You can ask Prowl if he's seen them when we go tell him to brig Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and possibly Fig."

Unlike his twin, Sideswipe was never very good with artistic abilities. Optimus' face was all thanks to Sunstreaker, Sideswipe most likely putting the apron on him. Fig might have given them the idea in the first place.

Miles climbed into Optimus' servo, making himself comfortable for the short ride. Prowl's office was just a bit down the hall from Optimus'. Optimus made sure the human was safe, before heading for the door. He stopped just short of leaving it, and Miles looked up to ask what was wrong.

Optimus had an evil glint in his blue optics, and was smirking.

"You really want to encourage Prowl to start doing stuff to you, too?" Miles asked.

"I'm the Prime, I can do what I want."

* * *

><p>Optimus walked in to Prowl's office, his SIC hard at work with two stacks of datapads on his desk. There was a half drunk Energon cube on his desk, and the SIC seemed engrossed in a datapad he had in his servo. Prowl didn't even notice them walk in, his systems recognizing Optimus as a non-threat and not doing anything else besides that.<p>

Optimus moved Miles up on to his shoulder, and then moved around Prowl's desk, and then behind Prowl's chair where the SIC was seated. Optimus reached around the chair, and grabbed a doorwing in each servo, gently massaging it. Prowl tensed up, letting out a strangled sound of surprise, before relaxing ever so slightly. Miles was already grinning like a fool.

"Honestly, Ratchet!" Prowl huffed, "I told you I'd have Jazz or Bumblebee take care of them before I went to recharge. Now shouldn't you be working on Barricade before Miles drives everyone else insane?"

Prowl batted the servos away, before turning his chair around to face what he thought to be Ratchet. Blue optics widened to an unbelievable amount.

"Awe, honey, you know I can't keep my servos off you!" Optimus batted his fake eyelashes at his SIC.

Prowl spluttered, trying to get anything out in response before he crashed, but it was of no use. A final, strangled, "Buwha", came out before the SIC locked up completely.

Miles burst out laughing, and Optimus chuckled, reaching up and grabbing the teen before he could laugh himself right off of his shoulder. The teen took a minute to compose himself, wiping his watery eyes, as Optimus walked out of his SIC's office and towards the Medbay.

"Ratch is gonna throw a wrench when you tell him what you did!"

Optimus grinned, "If I just say Prowl glitched when I walked in, he'll assume it was because of my appearance."

Miles snickered, going to say something else when a small wave of irritation and slight curiosity tentatively reached out to him. Optimus raised an optic ridge at the young teen.

"Barry's up!" Miles said by way of explanation, grinning up at the Prime.

* * *

><p>Barricade was sitting up, Ratchet fixing one of the wheels on his arm. During the fight between himself and Shockwave, the Decepticon Scientist had managed to slash a hole in it. Both of them heard the sound of Optimus Prime entering the room, those ped falls nearly unmistakable around the Autobot base.<p>

"I'll be with you in a minute, Optimus, I'm just fixing this glitch's wheel." Ratchet grumbled.

"Of course, Ratchet." Optimus said pleasantly.

Barricade peered around the Medbot's shoulder, staring at the Prime. He shuttered his optics, unshuttered them, and then repeated the process before giving up and accepting that he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing. It helped that there was a grinning teen sitting in the Prime's servo.

"Now I know what was so damn funny." Barricade drawled, eyeing the two and thanking Primus he hadn't been touched while in stasis.

Ratchet vented softly, before turning around to see himself and dropping his tool in shock. Optimus smirked at his shocked CMO, as it was so rare to actually see Ratchet show it. He set Miles down, and then Ratchet grabbed his servo, dragging him out of the room.

Both Miles and Barricade watched after the two with amusement, and then Miles climbed up on to Barricade's berth and on to the ex-con's leg. Barricade kept an optic on him the entire time.

"I believe you might come to regret this." Barricade said, his voice surprisingly soft, and Miles looked at him with wide eyes.

"That we can feel each other? No way!"

* * *

><p>Ratchet had given Barricade permission, though reluctant, to leave Medbay as long as he didn't do anything strenuous. The ex-con had agreed, and left the Medbay with Miles in servo. Poor Optimus had been left to Ratchet's wrath, the Medic having overheard Miles telling Barricade what had happened to Prowl.<p>

The two had met up with some of the others in the cafeteria for dinner. Sam, Miles, Will, Epps, and the holoforms of Barricade, Skyfire, Groundhog, Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Soundwave sat around the table. It was spaghetti night, and like usual the four humans were practically inhaling their food. Miles did so with more gusto than usual, have strict orders from Ratchet to eat more and take an early bed time even though he felt completely fine. While they did so, the Cybertronians talked.

"Fraggin' Ratch was right, _again_, then." Ironhide growled, glaring at Barricade.

It was common knowledge by now that the two did in fact have some sort of bond, though how strong was unknown. Barricade had his end of it blocked so nothing leaked through, but Miles didn't have any idea how to do so, meaning the ex-con was stuck with whatever ended on slipping through.

Ironhide, Ratchet, Jazz, Optimus, and Prowl had all gotten in a fight whether there would be or wouldn't be a bond, and then on what type. Ratchet and Prowl held that there would be, while Ironhide and Optimus didn't think there was any chance. Jazz held that there would be, and that the two would be Sparkmates. No mech gave that last part much thought besides a good laugh.

Barricade just shrugged, and Skyfire decided he was safe to speak up.

"I'd really like to do some scientific study on this. A connection between a Cybertronian and organic has never been recorded before, outside of a Guardianship. I think Wheeljack would agree with me. Would either of you mind?" Skyfire asked, looking for a reaction.

Miles indicated that he wouldn't mind, shaking his head instead of talking, and Barricade just shrugged again. Even after all the Skyfire related mishaps Miles had already undergone, he didn't expect anything else besides that innocent question. Sam and Epps immediately stopped eating, turning to watch Skyfire instead, and Bumblebee, Groundhog, and Ironhide looked at the holoform as well. Sam and Epps weren't disappointed, seeing Skyfire open the holoform's mouth yet again.

"Excellent!" Skyfire smiled, "The first study we can do would be fairly simple, and could help us out with programing the holoforms. All Barricade would have to do is allow himself to feel all of your emotions completely, and all you would have to do is masturbate."

Miles choked on his spaghetti, while Sam, Bumblebee, Epps, Will, and Groundhog burst out laughing. Ironhide chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest and looking around in amusement. Barricade just stared at Skyfire, while Sam reached over and slapped his best friend on the back hard.

"No!" Miles spluttered as soon as he could get a breath in to do so. "No way in hell am I jacking off and letting Barry _feel_ it!"

"Bu-"

"Absolutely not, Sky!" Miles growled, before taking a route that the seemingly naïve scientist would respond to better. "Things like smells, tastes, and touches I'd be willing to do. There is no need whatsoever for the other, and if you want that really bad then go bark up another tree."

Skyfire looked a little like he was pouting, but accepted that answer. Groundhog had to google what 'bark up another tree' meant. Sam and Epps finally calmed themselves down. Miles could feel Barricade's smugness radiating through their connection, and looked at the ex-con, whose holoform's face was as blank as normal.

Miles glared, "Smug bastard."

"I said you'd regret it." Barricade smirked back.

"I hate it when you're right."


	52. Growth

**AN:** So this story hasn't died, yay! Sorry for the long wait everyone, I didn't realize how long it had been since I updated, and I was working on another story a bit more. Come summer I should have less of a life, so TC should hopefully be updated more. For such a long wait here's a bit of a sweet chapter, showing a bit more of how much Barricade's developed from the beginning of this story, and his relationship with Miles. You know the drill, five reviews puh-leeze.

**Reviews:** Thanks to all who reviewed! (_MissShelz, Iwanita, Sharta, supergirlprime, Snow Kyubbi, DarkHunter643, CrossoverAUman, writergurl616, wolfwitch94, shadow-dog18, YukirinSnow, gabriela chocobar, runaways, sonadowkiss256, Tai Prime, Sam Whitlock, shadonic25, Charlene_) Wooh, that's a lot, but I really appreciate them

_Charlene:_ Why do I hold the next chapter for ransom? Because I'm evil! **Mwahahaha.** No, in truth, it's because there's just some people who I know constantly review, so I can expect five fairly easily, and it's nice getting reviews. There's usually more than five reviews, so it's never actually being held for ransom! If you go back some chapters you'll see me be like 'not five but whateve, five next chapter and here's an update!'. And thank you very much for the compliment. Concerning What a Smooth Cat most likely not, but that story is on hiatus. This story, as long as it may have been, and Imprinting are what I'm mainly working on for now.

_shadonic25_: No, TC is not abandoned! Just a little ignored for a bit.

_Tai Prime_: I'm glad you like this story so much!

**AN2:** It's been nearly a year since I started TC, and while I've been updating less and less, this story is still my little fanfiction baby, and is important to me. While I have hit a bit of a roadblock in developing, I am going to finish this story, and not just let it die. Have hope, it will continue, even if it takes me forever and a day to update again.

_**Chapter 52  
>Growth<strong>_

* * *

><p>Miles sat in the human rec-room, playing old maid with Sam and Bumblebee's holoform. Barricade's holoform sat next to the teen, watching the three play, while Sam and Bumblebee sat on the floor. It had been an uneventful few days, Barricade and Prowl still mainly recuperating from the surprise attack. Both would be able to do their fair share if another surprise came up, but that would be after Ratchet blew a gasket and went on a one mech rampage to kill the Decepticon army for messing with his mechs too often. Barricade, having been the worse damaged, had been ordered to use his holoform as much as possible until Ratchet was content with his bipedal form. He couldn't transform into his alt mode at all, and neither could Prowl. This left both of the police cruisers with a slightly worse mood than usual.<p>

Barricade was still blocking the connection as much as he could, though with both he and Miles being as inexperienced as a mech or human could be in their positions, whenever the teen felt something strong enough it always slipped through. Almost nothing slipped through from Barricade's side unless he allowed it, so all the mech mainly had to work on was not letting Miles' feelings affect whatever he was doing at that moment, like it had in the Medbay with Ratchet. Ratchet and Wheeljack were going through the archives, attempting to help Miles to learn how to block his own side. It seemed successful for the most part, though the teen would occasionally forget to use it.

So far Barricade had been fairly content with how it was working, seeing as the teen had mainly been calm for most of the time. A few hearty laughs, and at one point a scare from Epps, but that had been about it. Stuff Barricade could handle easily.

They heard a whistle from outside the door, and all of them watched as Sam grinned. Even Bumblebee was looking at his Charge quizzically.

"Look, buddy, I know your birthday's coming up, but with everything that's gone down it's not like we could get your parents here," Sam started explaining, "So I got someone else I thought you'd love to see instead, which Optimus agreed to them coming."

"Who-" Miles started to ask, but Epps being dragged in the room was answer enough. The Sergeant was attempting to hold on to a large and excited Mastiff, determined to see his beloved answer. It had been going good until Mason had caught Miles' scent, and then it was a battle to get the dog to stay. Now he was being dragged behind the large canine, and it wasn't like Jazz or Will were helping, but both followed and snickered behind him.

"Mason!" The hound was released, and Sam was nearly run over by the one hundred and fifty plus pound dog. He knew how to avoid the overly loving Mastiff by now, though, and moved over just far enough to do so.

Mason jumped right on the couch with Barricade and Miles, crowding his large body into the teen's lap as much as he could and showering Miles with licks. The teen loved it, laughing happily and hugging his dog close, but Barricade was annoyed. A huge wave of happiness and love rolled through him, making him feel happy to see the organic canine until he remembered that he actually hated the dog after Mason had peed in him. Even before then he had never been very welcoming to the thought of the large Mastiff.

"I don't see how that _thing_ can make you so happy," Barricade stated simply, but Sam looked at the ex-con in horror. Bumblebee made a cutting gesture over his throat, but the meaning was lost.

"This _thing_ is my puppy, so you better watch your mouth. He has a name, and it's Mason." Miles warned, holding Mason defensively.

"That is obviously an adult of its species," Barricade pointed out sarcastically, "It'll most likely die in a few years, anyway. Forming such a strong attachment is unnecessary."

By this point Barricade could see Sam making a desperate 'no' gesture out of the corner of his eye. Maybe if Barricade had been curious about learning the teen's emotions, he would have felt how angry Miles was getting. But he didn't care to learn, would have been happy if there was no connection, and for once Miles was actually keeping up his side of the bond, making Barricade think everything was still okay.

"Attachments are necessary to get you through life, Barry. Mason loves me just as much as I love him."

Barricade snorted, "It's just another stupid organic. Short lifespan, too eager to connect if you even actually have the capacity to do so, and easily replaced with another from one of those 'kennels' or 'pounds'. All of you organics are like that."

"Then these stupid organics are leaving," Miles replied calmly, standing up and leading Mason out of the room. The Mastiff followed loyally, not needing a leash.

Sam, Epps, Will, and Bumblebee watched the teen and dog leave without any surprise, but Barricade was left slightly confused.

"I think we've found Barricade's greatest talent," Jazz commented, deadpanning. "Sticking his ped in his mouth and digging himself a hole."

"No one tell him what he did." Sam grit his teeth, and glared Barricade down, leaving Bumblebee, Epps, and Jazz to try to conceal their secret mirth at the fact that Barricade knew enough by now to just let him. "You're going to use that supposed greater intelligence to do something other than look up the meaning of 'pound' and 'kennel' on the web. This is the biggest idea I could come up with for Miles' birthday, and you ruined it you moody aft! You and Mason have more in common than you think."

Barricade stared at Sam, trying to do just what the teen wanted. He realized by now that at some point Miles had gotten upset over something, but he wasn't sure what. He had insulted Mason before, and Miles accepted the fact that Barricade would probably never like his beloved Mastiff. He had agreed that he probably wouldn't like something if they had peed in him either, and had just brushed aside any snide comments Barricade might have thrown in.

To top it all off, he knew the human tradition was to give one a gift on the day they were born, and Cybertronians celebrated the day, too. He had just made Miles angry, and what could he get the teen that he didn't already have? Barricade thought that it would be expected of him to give Miles a gift, but after a little more thinking he realized it wasn't. None of them expected Barricade to give Miles a gift, probably the main reason he hadn't heard about it being near the teen's birthday.

Barricade allowed the holoform to fade out of existence, returning his complete attention to his bipedal mode. It somehow made him angry that everyone just expected him to do nothing, that they all might think that the relationship between himself and the teen was mostly one sided. Even if he had seen Miles as a means to an end in the beginning, the boy meant more than that now.

* * *

><p>Barricade found himself in the same predicament he was always in whenever he and Miles had what Judy would call a 'little tiff'. The mech's daily routine consisted around Miles normally. If the teen was in the rec-room, that meant he was in the rec-room being sociable. Miles used to constantly come and bring Barricade out even when the used to be 'con didn't feel like being around anyone or mech, and if Barricade was in an especially bad mood that day then Miles would just spend time with the ex-con alone.<p>

He did have Groundhog now, but Groundhog had been assimilating quite well and was normally in the same places as Miles, because that's where the fun and relaxation was. Barricade wasn't even sure if what he did required him to avoid Miles, or Miles to avoid him.

If nothing else, Barricade had Ratchet to rely on. The Medbot was a perfectionist, or as close as he could get, and had Barricade slated for some work today. It saved him from needless wondering, so he didn't even bother to use a holoform to get away while Ratchet worked. He just stayed aware and watched the Medic.

But Ratchet was as big on the social and psychological aspects of his patient's lives as he was their physical aspects.

"I heard you managed to piss Miles off pretty badly," Ratchet commented, tinkering with the transformation seam in Barricade's arm.

Barricade growled, "He is being too sensitive about that thing Samuel had brought for him."

"Do you really think it's just about Mason?" Ratchet asked, glancing up and receiving a confused expression. "Review what you said, and then what's just recently been happened. I had hoped that the bond with Miles has made you more aware about such things, but it seems like you're more content to just have it blocked the whole time. I'm done, you can go."

Barricade shuttered his optics in surprise, but left once he had permission to. He had expected the Medic to work on him longer, but realized that Ratchet being the mech that he was would want to work on his problem with Miles too, and Sam had most likely warned off anyone from doing something.

Barricade was almost angry at Bumblebee's Charge, but the last time he had done something to anger Miles he had known right away what it was, even if he hadn't bothered to make everything okay back then. That had been the brief period of time when Miles spent more time with Prowl. It hadn't been until a few days later when Miles and Sam had met the Dinobots that Barricade had bothered to apologize, and Miles had bothered to accept.

"Barricade?" Ratchet called, and Barricade turned around to look at the Medic. "Try looking at what you said through someone else's optics. Like Sam's or Bumblebee's, if not Miles'."

* * *

><p>After that, Ratchet gave Barricade permission to take his bipedal mode out and exercise himself. Barricade went outside immediately, more than happy to take the Medic's orders and stretch his legs. Just as soon as he rounded the corner of the barracks, a green ball rolled under ped, followed by an excited Mastiff. Barricade froze in his downward step, precariously balancing on one ped with all his weight.<p>

A sharp whistle followed by a "Mason, come!" pulled the excited canine away immediately, the dog forgetting his ball and instead trotting back to Miles' side.

"Sorry," Miles grinned sheepishly up at Barricade, "Didn't notice you coming, or I wouldn't have tossed the ball that way."

Barricade shuttered his optics for a moment, having expected a different reaction to his presence. Somehow the response he get didn't make him happy. That was how it was going to be, Barricade realized. He had done something to upset the teen but here Miles was grinning away. Getting off scott free didn't please Barricade for some reason. Why could the teen just suck it up, or tell him what he did wrong in the first place? He _had_ to find out now. Miles was letting him off, and no one really expected him to get it. Ratchet had been trying to drop hints, and maybe even Miles thought he never would understand what he did. Barricade held back a growl; he wasn't as socially inept or uncaring as they thought he was. He just wasn't as experienced.

"You'll have to train him not to do that," Barricade growled, some of his annoyance slipping into his tone, but he made sure to describe Mason as a 'him'.

Miles nodded, "You're right. Good thing Masey's a fast learner."

Barricade nudged the tennis ball Mason had been chasing back towards Miles and the dog, watching Miles pet the canine lovingly before picking it up and tossing it for the dog to fetch again. Both watched Mason go after it.

"How did you end up getting him?" Barricade asked, recalling what Sam had said about him and Mason having more in common than he might think.

"It was right before sixth grade," Miles started, "I was walking home from baseball practice, and was late for dinner since I stopped in a store to pick up a box of granola bars, and I took a shortcut through that patch of woods I found you in. He was still literally a puppy then, but he was already a behemoth in the making. He was all skin and bones, you could count all of his ribs just by looking, and a dog like him is normally supposed to be heavy set. He was covered in fleas, maybe even a few tics, and around his neck there were areas where a collar that had been put on him had rubbed the skin raw, or actually punctured it in some places."

Mason came trotting back with the tennis ball, dropping it at Miles feet just as he paused in his story. The teen bent and retrieved it, wiping off some of the slobber as his dog waited, tail wagging. Then he was winding up and tossing it as far away as he could, Mason darting after it in the blink of an eye.

"He wasn't as happy as he is now. He was terrified of me, wouldn't even let me come near him. I ended up leading him home, dropping a piece of granola bar on the ground and walking about five feet away and repeating the process. By the time I got him home he'd eaten the whole granola box, so I had to herd 'im in there on my own. It worked, but Mom and Dad weren't exactly too happy with me bringing a stray home. He was so pathetic that they agreed to let me keep him and care for him until we could find a better home for him, but by the end of the week he was mine and they knew it. He likes them, and he likes Sam, too, but he loves me."

Barricade could picture the whole thing perfectly. A young Miles just opening his heart to a creature he didn't know, that could be dangerous if pressed the wrong way, but never bothering to actually pause to think about it. He had done the same thing when he had realized Barricade was alive.

The two stood together, an awkward silence hanging between them. Miles was still playing fetch with Mason, occasionally cooing and talking to his dog, but none of that was towards Barricade. Barricade watched the whole interaction, trying to feel through their bond to the teen, but Miles had his side blocked.

"I upset you," Barricade stated simply, before adding on. "I don't understand how."

By this point, he figured if Miles was going to at least attempt to act as if he hadn't been upset, he could at least be honest and get it explained to him. Maybe then something like it wouldn't happen again, because somehow he had ended up getting Sam angrier at him than Miles was. Alone Sam was a force to be reckoned with, but the Witwicky had Bumblebee on his side, and that made him even worse.

Miles looked at Barricade in surprise for a second, mainly over the fact that Barricade was accepting the fact that he had to have done something wrong to upset him, and that he didn't know what it was. When Mason came back with the ball he just took it, petting the dog as he thought best how to respond.

"It wasn't you, Barry, it was just…" Miles trailed off for a moment, "What's going to happen when I die?"

_It'll most likely die in a few years, anyway. Forming such a strong attachment is unnecessary. It's just another stupid organic. Short lifespan, too eager to connect if you even actually have the capacity to do so, and easily replaced with another… All of you organics are like that._

Barricade knew what he said fully well, and knew what he meant. He could see now that his generalization in 'another stupid organic' and 'you organics' had made it take an entirely different spin from just being about the Mastiff. It was about Miles, too. About all the humans on base, and he hadn't even realized.

Barricade had nearly died, and in Ratchet's own words only the "grace of Primus" and the "bullheadedness of a certain organic" did he persevere. For once, Barricade hadn't needed anyone to tell him that something like that could affect an organic. Miles now had a bigger sense of mortality, in those he cared about, and in himself. His first time in danger while saving Orion hadn't done much to give him one, and neither had the incident when he and Sam had been kidnapped by Skyfire. But Barricade nearly dying had had an impact on Miles, too.

"Ratch and Prowl have been explaining bonds to me, helping me with it so I wouldn't have to bother you with random emotions so much. Every time someone you're bonded with dies, you _feel_ it. And ours is different, I'm a completely different species, and the bond was used to save your life. If I die, will I bring you with me?"

There were no records recording a Cybertronian bonding with another species, much less a Cybertronian being saved through said bonding. Barricade had asked about it. All of them were in the dark about it, and all they had to go off of were normal bonds. So far the bond between he and Miles had been fairly normal, if they removed the whole saving his life part.

"With my luck, it'll make you live until I do." Barricade finally said, looking down at the teen.

Miles looked back in disbelief, and just like that the situation was diffused. He snorted, "You're an aft."

Barricade activated his holoform, taking the ball from Miles and tossing it for Mason. "Just wing it. You're better at that than trying to think everything through."

"I thought you weren't going to have anything to do with Mason?" Miles asked.

"I thought the same thing about you once you were going to finish fixing me. Look how that turned out."

The teen grinned, "Can't get rid of me now, Barry."

An 'I wouldn't want to anyway' or something similar would have been nice to top it all off, but Barricade wasn't the type to say things like that. In his time with the Autobots, and more importantly Miles, he had opened up more, even if that didn't include speaking it aloud. Instead, he took down one block he had on the bond, still attempting to block anything that might come through on Miles side, but letting his Spark send a warm burst to the teen before putting the block back in place. And if he was able to have a small chuckle to himself over Miles' expression, then that just made the Spark pulse more worth it.


	53. Virus

**AN: **A new chapter? And it hasn't even been a month? It's like Christmas! Haha, but really, I will try to update faster. x) I am uploading a second version of this chapter, where at the end Barricade and Miles end up getting together. If you want to read it for the BxM it will be called TC: The Miles Files. It's exactly the same as this chapter until near the end, so you'll be able to skip through most of it if you want. Or if you just want to read them getting together without spoiling the whole chapter, read it first, and then just this ending. Five reviews please!

**Reviews: **Thanks to all who reviewed! (_Noella50881, MissShelz, Iwanita, 1Timberwolf, shadow-dog18, SkyHighFan, Snow Kyubbi, and shadonic25_)  
>Shadonic25: I appreciate you putting you're review in English, and I have no trouble reading it! If you speak Spanish I'm in Spanish III at school, so I should be able to read at least some of what you say. There's always translators if I have no idea, but please feel free to comment in whatever language you normally speak. I'm really happy I could help you love Barricade, too! :)<p>

**AN2:** Another kind of 'fluffy' chapter, with a bit of serious mixed in at the beginning, hope you enjoy! Also, for any BxM fans, I also have Blame it on the Highgrade from way back when in the beginning of the story, though they don't actually get together in it. Just kiss.

**Chapter 53**  
><strong>Virus<strong>

* * *

><p>Sam and Miles walked down the hallway, heading for the cafeteria. They were going to meet Bumblebee and Barricade for lunch. Though it had been deemed too dangerous to go to their actual school, that didn't mean their education stopped. Prowl had Mikaela and Trent collect data on what the teachers were teaching in their classes, and then did his own lesson plans based off the information he was given. This way the teens could continue their education and stick along the same guidelines of other's their age.<p>

Very few had been surprised when the two had suggested a course on Cybertronian history, culture, and the like along with their other subjects. Fig was the one who taught them Spanish, though other languages had been added on occasionally, much to the two teen's chagrin. They still had homework and tests, even school projects when Prowl was creative enough. That wasn't to say that the two didn't manage to get out of their scheduled class time by finding a way to 'help' Ratchet or Optimus, as the two made sure they learned something, or being 'kidnapped' by Jazz, the soldiers, and Sideswipe.

They were walking by the Medbay when they heard Wheeljack's voice, and paused to listen because of the tone.

"He kicked me out of my own lab, Ratch!" Wheeljack complained.

They could hear Ratchet sigh, "Skyfire is a scientist too, 'Jack. Let him have whatever it is he's doing, he hasn't asked for much."

"He didn't have to be so rude about it," Wheeljack grumbled, but relented.

Sam and Miles looked at each other and agreed unanimously without having to speak one word. Skyfire acting rude? The idea was almost laughable. While the Scientist did have some privacy issues, he had never been rude about something, or at least that Miles or Sam had experienced. He was the gentle giant. Something had to be going on.

Both teens hightailed it over to Wheeljack's lab, not even bothering to think to tell their Guardians. It wasn't that hard to find them if they really looked, even if they had to look somewhere where the teens had technically been banned from. Technicalities didn't cross their minds as they looked for Skyfire's bipedal form or alt mode outside the lab, before realizing that Wheeljack's lab was just big enough to fit the large Seeker if he tried.

It wasn't hard to find Skyfire, though normally it took at least five minutes for them to safely navigate and find Wheeljack while he was in the lab. The mech was in the monitor room, plugged in and staring at the screen as coded information formed on it. Almost immediately the teens could just tell something was _wrong_.

"Sky, what are you looking at?" Sam asked, and while both knew Skyfire should have noticed them coming awhile back, it seemed like he was just noticing them now, optics tearing away from all the Cybertronian glyphs on the screen.

"Nothing." A short and curt response, surprising them both.

"That's the glyph for Decepticon," Miles said, pointing. He opened his side of the bond with Barricade, trying to contact the mech through it. "And those two are somemech's name. I forget whose."

Sam looked at where his friend was pointing, vaguely recognizing the Cybertronian glyph for Decepticon. Miles had always been better when it came to other languages, but it appeared the fast moving glyphs were mostly too much even for him. Decepticon and the other two familiar glyphs had been all he managed to make out.

Skyfire's optics seemed to short out for a moment, before reappearing a lighter blue as he looked back to the screen.

"Starscream," He allowed, hesitating just a bit before his normal honesty and openness caused him to continue. "I got this off of Shockwave, and have been trying to decode it since three this morning."

Miles tensed at Shockwave's name, but the memory of the mech wasn't the only reason. Shockwave was dead and had been for a while, and Ratchet had gone through a fit when Optimus and Prowl suggested going inside the mech's processor and collecting any useful data they could find. As dangerous as it was to do it, Optimus ended up overriding Ratchet's concerns on the matter and assigning the project to Wheeljack and Skyfire. The two scientists searching seemed to turn up nothing, but apparently Skyfire had managed to find something pertaining to Starscream and go at it on his own.

Sam frowned, "Did you tell Ratch, or even Wheeljack? Ratchet's gonna blow a gasket when he finds out how careless you've be-"

"Silence!" Skyfire slammed his servos down on the controls, voice cracking as it caused both teens to jump in surprise and shuffle a little closer to each other.

This wasn't like Skyfire at all, even with his devotion to finding out what managed to turn Starscream on to Megatron's side. It had never changed how the mech treated them and neither could remember Skyfire ever raising his voice, or even getting angry at all. His vocalizer was glitching, and he was acting oddly, maybe even violently. One thing Ratchet had thrown a fit about was the possibility of the encrypted data in Shockwave's processor containing a virus that would attack whoever tried to decode it. Sam turned to Miles and mouthed the word virus, and Miles nodded. It looked like Ratchet's fears had been correct.

"Sky, just calm down." Miles said slowly, moving closer and closer to the Scientist, blinking as he was hit by an intense wave of heat that just rolled off the giant Seeker. "You're burning up!"

"I am fine," Skyfire all but growled, turning optics down to the teen. Now instead of just appearing lighter in color, they were glitching too, going dark or static lacing through them.

"Fine is not boiling hot, Sky! You're like-" Miles made the mistake of putting a hand on the metal plating of Skyfire's leg, a current of powerful electricity running through the mech and into him.

"Miles!" Sam heard the telltale crackle of electricity, but it sounded louder than it should be, and the hair on his arms was standing up. He ran forward to catch his friend when Miles fell backwards, supporting the added weight as best he could. It wasn't a huge leap to figuring out that Miles had just gotten shocked, and badly enough that he was unresponsive when Sam shook him.

"Sky, we need to take him to Ratch, now!" But that wasn't going to happen, Skyfire collapsing to his knees and falling forward into the controls. There was a mechanical thrum as Skyfire's systems worked overtime, before stalling completely.

Automatically, Sam reached out a hand, repeating Miles' actions from earlier as he touched some of Skyfire's plating. The mech really was burning up, so hot that he was burning Sam's hands, but Sam knew he couldn't pull back. He had to concentrate.

* * *

><p>Barricade and Bumblebee stood together outside of the cafeteria, both in their bipedal mode. It had been almost ten minutes since the teens were supposed to meet them, but so far they had been nowhere to be seen.<p>

Barricade had taken to leaving his side of the bond open when it came to feeling Miles, but blocking any of his own emotions that might leak out. This way he could help Miles a little by telling him when his own block didn't work and Barricade felt him, and he would occasionally send the teen something he was feeling to test the strength of his blocks. It was something Sparklings and Younglings went through so they could learn how to block each other successfully but still keep a close bond, and Jazz had been the one to suggest it. He had also taken an active role in attempting to not dislike Mason that much, though that was taking a bit longer to work on.

"Think Prowl is holding them?" Bumblebee asked.

"If he is, we better go step in. Last time he ended up glitching when they retaliated." Barricade replied, rolling his optics when Bumblebee snickered.

"They are a force when together," Bumblebee grinned, heading down the path the teens would come.

Barricade followed, remaining silent even as Bumblebee started to talk. If the teens had stopped to talk to anyone along the way, or gotten distracted by something, they would end up running across them. If that didn't work, they'd most likely run across someone who had seen them, and could tell them what direction to go to retrieve their wayward Charges.

Several feelings rolled over the ex-con, making him take a slight pause. As short as it was, Bumblebee noticed, and stopped beside him. Barricade identified the burst as what could almost be deemed a 'feeler wave', meaning Miles was looking for a reaction.

"Miles?" Bumblebee asked, smirking. The Scout found the bond between the two funny, especially when Miles managed to nearly knock Barricade flat on his aft with happiness or the like. He was a bit jealous of the pair, and Sam had admitted to thinking that something like what they had would be cool between himself and Bumblebee. But the Autobot would be content with what he had, and just laugh when Barricade got annoyed at what he had.

Barricade glared at the Scout, before blocking his side of the bond completely. But the next feeler wave just tore right through his blocks with a small sense of urgency, followed by an intense wave of worry.

"We need to find them," Barricade said, resuming walking, but this time changing his course and going faster. Without even noticing he was heading to Wheeljack's lab.

"What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked worriedly, following the ex-con.

"Something's-" Barricade's vocalizer cut itself off as a sharp and unusual pain filled his Spark. His systems stalled for a full nanosecond, and in the next he was venting as sharply as if all the wind had been knocked out of him, though it didn't affect him as much as it would an organic. As quick as the pain had come, it faded away even quicker. When Barricade sent out a questioning feeler there was nothing on the other side.

Both mechs put their systems on high, Bumblebee contacting Ratchet and Optimus as Barricade contacted Ironhide and Prowl, only managing to tell them that the problem was in Wheeljack's lab somewhere. With their systems on high neither missed the large burst of Allspark energy.

* * *

><p>By the time Barricade and Bumblebee got to Wheeljack's lab, Will, Epps, Ratchet, and Wheeljack had beaten them to it. Ratchet was looking over Skyfire as Wheeljack hovered over his shoulder, attempting to safely disconnect the Scientist without reinfecting him. Ratchet was trying to wake up Skyfire, and make sure that nothing permanently damaging had been done. Sam was on his knees, holding Miles in a small sitting up position as Will and Epps woke him and tried to get a response.<p>

"Miles, Miles?" Epps held up his hand when the dazed teen managed to focus on him enough, and then proceeded to flick Miles off. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Miles blinked slowly, "The thumb isn't a finger, so eight."

Will, Epps, and Sam looked at the hand the Sergeant was holding up. Epps had meant to be joking when he flicked the teen off, not actually checking for anything. Sam helped Miles sit up further, looking worried.

"Eight? Is he okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Miles slapped Sam's hands away, sitting up by himself as he caught a new wind. "Is Skyfire okay?"

Sam nodded, "I took care of the virus, I guess."

"There's a shock," Miles grinned, only to be smacked on the arm by Sam.

"If he's good enough to be cracking jokes, he's fine. I'll check him out later, and so will the organic medic." Ratchet said, before barking orders. "Mechs, out! Wheeljack, help me carry Skyfire out of here. Barricade, Bumblebee, use your holoforms. I want you to scan the place to make sure Skyfire didn't touch anything else, but I swear to Primus if you plug in to anything or come in with your real bodies I will rip you both apart limb by limb."

Wheeljack and Ratchet maneuvered Skyfire out of the lab, Sam and Will following. Barricade and Bumblebee activated their holoforms, taking a moment to send their bipedal modes out of the room. Miles stood up, Epps helping him steady himself. The teen leaned against the wall behind him, running a hand through his hair.

"Are you really okay?" Epps asked, examining the hand that Miles had touched Skyfire with. It was the only noticable sign that something had even happened, redder than normal. A good icing would take care of it.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"No you are not; you're glitched in the processor!" Barricade growled, his outburst surprising all of them. Bumblebee even glanced up from playing around with the monitors, using the human-sized controls. Epps held up his hands and backed away as Barricade stalked forward, indicating he wanted no part of whatever was about to go down as he moved next to Bumblebee.

Miles protested immediately, "I'm fine, Barry!"

"You call getting a large enough voltage of electricity that you _faint_ fine?"

"Is that what this is about? Look, I'm sorry I had the bond open so you felt it, but I didn't exactly plan on getting the shit shocked out of me!" Miles really was sorry, he would have closed his side if he knew he was going to get hurt, so then Barricade wouldn't have had to feel it.

"No, this is about how stupid you are! If you're smart enough to figure out that something was wrong with Skyfire, how come you're not smart enough to figure out that touching him would be bad?"

"I didn't think-"

"I know you didn't think! You never do! You worry about everybody else besides _yourself_! It's getting more and more dangerous, and you're being concerned about others!" Barricade snapped, stalking even closer to the teen.

"But Sam-" Miles was cut off once again, pressing up against the wall behind him a bit. Dealing with an angry Barricade was easy, dealing with an angry Barricade who was dealing with emotions was a bit harder. Miles wasn't sure what to say to calm the ex-con down, or to at least stop the tirade for now.

"I don't give a _**frag**_ about Sam! It's you I-!" Barricade cut himself off, growling.

Bumblebee and Epps stared at the two, one with wide eyes and the other in pure disbelief. Epps whispered to Bumblebee, "Primus, you think they'd fight less with their bond."

Bumblebee nodded his agreement, half thinking of stepping in. Barricade could go all Guardian on the teen for the first time after he was checked over, or that's what Bumblebee would have done, but he and Barricade appeared to be very different. By this point, Barricade had Miles pressed against the wall he had previously just been relaxing on. There was a spare inch separating their bodies, and the ex-con was leaning even closer. And like always, Miles was the one who tried to diffuse the situation.

"Awe, you do care, Barry! That's so sweet!"

Barricade growled, but visibly deflated as Bumblebee and Epps looked on in amazement. Miles really was good at dealing with the irritable ex-con.


	54. Jealousy

**AN:** Holy crap, this turned out a lot longer than I had originally planned. But here's another chapter to celebrate my school year almost being over! Kind of a bit more filler than anything else, but once more developing Barry! They grow up so fast T^T.

**Reviews:** Thanks to all who reviewed! (_Iwanita, MissShelz, shadow-dog18, Snow Kyubbi, supergirlprime, Ryen Selenity Caliburn, shadonic25, sheekblack, MissMary_)

**Chapter 54  
><strong>**Jealousy**

* * *

><p>Miles hadn't even been awake for five minutes, and already he was certain that today would be the day that he met his untimely demise.<p>

Miles was a normal, healthy teenage male. Well, mostly normal, given the fact that he was one of four playing host to a strange energy, still had the nanobots inside of him, and now had a bond with a Cybertronian. And healthy teenage males had wet dreams, the problem Miles was currently facing. Waking up to a bit of a mess didn't bother him; it was nothing to be ashamed of.

Waking up to a bit of mess and then remembering it was the first wet dream he had had since the bond with Barricade was created, well that did bother him. Just a bit.

He had absolutely no idea what to do. He hoped that it hadn't leaked through while he slept, but somehow Miles knew he probably wouldn't be so lucky. But if Barricade didn't say anything, should he? What could he say? 'Oh, sorry for turning you on last night, Barry. How was your morning Energon?'

Miles slumped back on his bed, half wondering if he could just hide away all day, claim to be sick. Or insane. There was no one he could talk to. Sure, he could ask Ratchet the chances of Barricade feeling it, but so far the leading authority on Barricade and his reactions was Miles himself, even with Groundhog on base. This only made the teen feel worse, as Barricade's recent developments were even leaving him baffled. Sure, it was all well and good that the ex-con was realizing he could really care about someone, and somethings, but that made it harder to guess on reactions.

Miles laid there fretting for a few more minutes, before a whine and scratching at the door drew his attention to Mason. The Mastiff was giving clear indications of needing to use the bathroom, and Miles groaned before getting up. He knew he couldn't let Mason suffer with him, and that the likelihood that he wouldn't be dragged out of the room at some point was slim to none. Miles just took a moment to thank Primus that Sam had slept elsewhere the night before, because if Barricade decided to make a scene it could get potentially awkward.

* * *

><p>By the time Miles got to the rec-room, an hour had passed since he had woken up.<p>

Deciding to spend some quality time with his favorite dog meant he could have a convenient excuse for skipping breakfast, and avoiding Barricade for that much longer. He'd been cautious, but he'd gotten nothing from the other side of the bond. It was completely closed off. The longer he spent avoiding Barricade, and practically everyone else on base because of that, the more likely someone was to turn up looking for him. And that someone would most likely be a somemech named Barricade.

Miles was pretty sure he was doomed no matter what, and so he had begrudgingly dropped off Mason with Red Alert. The Security Director had taken a surprising shine to the large canine, especially after hearing how a dog could guard and protect those it cared about. Mason didn't seem to mind the attention from the Autobot, and so Miles had left it as it was. Certain mechs, like Ironhide and Sunstreaker, though Ironhide was getting better, would sooner step on the dog then pet him.

The teen had barely walked in the room before the small sense of calmness he had gathered evaporated completely. Seeing Barricade standing there with arms folded across his chassis and his normal irritated look on his face did nothing to hint at Miles' worries, and that just made it worse. He walked over and stood beside Sam, trying to look casual as he took the side farthest from Barricade. Doing so wouldn't seem odd, would it? Miles didn't have long to ponder his newest question before Will was addressing them.

"Alright, boys," Will started, before correcting himself. "And mechs. Today is actually get work done day."

A chorus of minor complaints started up, but Will just let that run its course before continuing.

"Blurr, you'll be doing patrol around the perimeter around and up to ten miles outside of the base. Skyfire, you can do whatever, but for the love of Primus do not make Ratchet kill you and blame me for giving you free time!" Will ordered, letting Skyfire off the hook as the mech was still recuperating from the virus.

Skyfire was already almost completely better, though he was still suffering after effects. He had been banned from the internet, Ratchet not wanting to take any chances, and mainly could only use his holoform. He couldn't plug into anything, either. The shock he had given Miles had been his Spark attempting to protect his body, something Sam had already had explained to him when Barricade's Spark had shocked Bumblebee. The shock Skyfire used, however, had taken away any last defense his systems had against the virus, and so he had collapsed soon after. Wheeljack was currently attempting to try to decontaminate whatever Skyfire had found.

Will continued, "Bumblebee, Barricade, Sam, and Miles: you guys will work on repainting the buildings damaged in the fight. We've put that off for long enough. All the mechs are required to go in for a checkup with Ratchet at some point today, which brings me to Sideswipe. You're doing rounds with Ratchet until the end of the day. Sunstreaker, Skids, and Mudflap: you're babysitting Orion. Jazz and Epps, you're with Prowl on datapad duty. Ironhide, you'll come with me to get the new parts sent in for Wheeljack to make better weapons for us organics. Everyone else already has their assignments."

Skids and Mudflap babysitting Orion was not the best idea, but Sunstreaker would be there to keep them in line. The yellow frontliner had no problem beating them into submission, nor did Sideswipe. The twins minor were constantly in fear of the twins major, and were usually kept separated for just that reason. Unless it was Sparkling sitting, of course.

"I'd rather not get that white paint on me," Barricade commented, indicating his black frame. "It sticks out just a little bit. I can babysit Skyfire."

"I do not require babysitting," Skyfire protested immediately, "And you'd provide no interest for me anyway. A scientist requires stimulation."

"You could study mine and the fleshling's bond more." Barricade drawled, using it as if it was a tasty morsel for Skyfire. The Scientist was fascinated with their bond, and had constantly been after them to find out more.

But Miles started to panic at the mention of the bond, trying to think of something quick to get them off the topic.

"We could even-"

"I'll go on patrol with Blurr!" Miles blurted, getting a strange look from Sam. After his first meeting with Blurr, the teen hadn't exactly taken to him, and outside of being on polite friendly terms, the two rarely talked.

Blurr looked at Miles for a moment, and then shrugged. "That-would-be-fine-with-me."

"Then Miles can go with Blurr," Will said, fine with it if Blurr was.

* * *

><p>"I like you a lot better when you're not shaking the shit out of me," Miles commented, looking out of Blurr's window.<p>

The mech didn't take offence, instead he laughed.

"Yes, well, I didn't yet know how fragile your kind was at the time. As much as I disliked being stopped by Barricade at the time, I appreciate it now. Ratch would have killed me if I'd managed to give you a concussion." Blurr said, rounding the building that kept the Dinobots, narrowly managing to avoid Swoop trying to grab him.

Miles grinned, but then blinked. "Hey, you didn't talk super-fast!"

"I do not talk fast all the time," Blurr replied with amusement, "I found organics have a harder time understanding me than Cybertronians do, and will slow down accordingly speech wise."

"Oh," Miles realized that made sense. With the rate a Cybertronian could talk, a fast talking one was even worse for the organics. Sam had related it to being in school and there Spanish teacher playing those foreign tapes, even though they should have known what was said the speaker talked so fast that most of it was lost, and their teacher would have to repeat it several times.

The teen suddenly felt a little bad, realizing he would have known that if he bothered to spend any time with Blurr. Sure, he hadn't appreciated the shaking that much, but he had known that new landed Cybertronians could be a bit difficult to get on with. It wasn't like he was avoiding the mech either, if Blurr was in the room then Blurr was in the room. But Blurr was rarely there, as the fastest he was sent out the most often to get things or to deliver things. Miles couldn't recall a single time they'd actually had a conversation just the two of them.

"How do you like Earth?" Miles asked, attempting to remedy at least a bit of that.

Blurr didn't find the question odd or out of the blue, or if he did he just didn't care. He actually took a moment to think about it.

"You organics are much like us, but very different at the same time. It can be quite confusing," Blurr admitted, "But otherwise I enjoy it very much. A nice atmosphere, fairly pleasant weather, good scenery. The only thing I don't happen to like is the Decepticons here."

Ah, there was that too. Blurr had always been one of the more vocal about being unsettled with Decepticons on base, though over time he had quieted down along with the others. Miles, on the other hand, had basically been the one to start the Decepticon trend, though he wasn't nearly as close to Soundwave, the cassetticons, and Groundhog as he was Barricade.

Blurr seemed to sense the teen's unease, "I've come to realize that the ones on our base are not at all _that_ bad. The ones off are still fair game, however, and them I will not hesitate against."

"I think I feel bad for any 'con who runs up against you," Miles replied, looking at the wheel in front of him instead of out the window. Everything was going by a bit too fast for his liking. "Is there a particular reason you hate them so much? I mean, I know the war and all…"

"I was initially a neutral. My entire home town was, up until the Decepticons attacked it. They killed my family, and my Sparkmate." Blurr said bitterly.

"Oh, jeez, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"You did not; it is not exactly a secret."

"Still…" Miles trailed off, and they rode in silence for a bit. But his curiosity got the better of him. "What were they like?"

* * *

><p>"Okay, what the frag happened between you and Miles?" Bumblebee asked, joining Barricade at the table the ex-con had claimed. Sam sat beside him.<p>

As soon as they could break for lunch, Barricade was gone and cleaning any paint off himself he could find. Since Miles would not be with him to 'babysit' Skyfire, Barricade had been forced to stick with painting.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Barricade played innocent, leaving his faceplates blank.

Sam snorted, "You're the Big Bad Wolf, and Miles is little Red Riding Hood trying to get to grandma's house safely. He doesn't even like Blurr that much, and he practically jumped at the chance to do patrol with him. Otherwise he would have been stuck with you or Skyfire, possibly me and Bumblebee, and I know he doesn't have a problem with Bee, Sky, or me, so it has to be _you._"

"He had what you organics refer to as a 'wet dream' last night," Barricade said, "It's rather amusing to see him bluster around like an idiot, even more amusing to feel it whenever he lets the bond slip."

"You're fucking with him!" Sam accused, and Barricade just gave the teen an amused look. Sam had to refrain from slamming his head on the table, because Miles would never get anywhere with anyone if he worried about if Barricade could feel it.

"Did you feel it?" Bumblebee asked curiously, and Sam looked at his Guardian in horror.

"I'd rather not discuss that," Barricade sounded fairly disgruntled.

"Okay, okay! I'm going to sit at a safe table!" Sam cried, getting up quickly and hurrying over to join Prowl, Jazz, Epps, and Fig.

Bumblebee watched his Charge leave with amusement, before turning his optics back to Barricade. "I see your new favorite past time is screwing with organics. Should I be worried it might move on to our own kind?"

Barricade just chuckled, and drank his Energon cube. Bumblebee followed suit, the two sitting quietly for a few minutes. Until Bumblebee spoke up again.

"But… did you feel it?" Bumblebee asked again, really wanting to know.

All Bumblebee got was a smirk in response, Barricade getting up and leaving the cafeteria to go back to painting. The Scout pouted for a minute, he couldn't tell if that was a yes, or if everyone and mech was free game for Barricade now. The ex-con had a new found confidence, where he had previously stayed within an inner social circle. Minus the sarcastic and cutting comments he had dished out to everyone before.

* * *

><p>By the time night rolled around, Barricade still hadn't seen Miles and he was annoyed. The ex-con was just beginning to think that the teen might be overreacting, and that his reference to bond emotions but otherwise not touching the topic probably hadn't helped. But he mostly blamed it on the teen overreacting, because humans had weird taboos when it came to that stuff. How Mikaela could go around in a bikini and it was fine, but if someone happened in when she was just in bra and panties it wasn't still stumped him.<p>

He followed the silent link of the bond to the teen, finding him on the other half of the base and getting even more annoyed. The two sides mingled, of course, but when it came down to it certain mechs and certain humans were on one side, and all the rest were on the other. Graham, Maggie, Glen, Trailbreaker, Blurr, and several others were all on the opposite half. A joking rivalry had been started up, each side referring to the other as background fuzz. Barricade knew that Miles couldn't care less about opposite sides, even joking ones, but the teen had rarely ventured to the other half of base on his own. Usually there was a group of people coming to either side or meeting in the middle.

And when he finally found the teen, he was outside on a picnic table. Maggie had claimed his right side, holding on to his arm, and thoroughly managing to embarrass Miles while at the same time making him feel good about himself. Blurr's holoform sat on the teen's left, grinning and irritating Barricade even more. The mech's disdain for Decepticons didn't exactly make him easy to get on with, and Barricade tended to avoid him. Glen, Graham, and a few other organics that Barricade didn't care to know sat at the table with them, teasing Miles and laughing. Trailbreaker was using his holoform to cook on a grill, Blaster helping him.

Knowing that Miles wasn't freaking out anymore and just hadn't bothered to go see Barricade made the ex-con even more irritated, bordering a anger that he'd probably regret, and an emotion he couldn't quite place down as jealousy. And then Miles was laughing at something Blurr mock whispered to him, detaching himself from Maggie and standing as he patted the mech's holoform on the shoulder.

That was when Barricade walked over to him, picked Miles up, and without further ado placed the teen over his shoulder and walked back the way he came.

"Barry!" Miles cried, "What the hell? Put me down!"

Miles didn't really help this, of course. The teen struggled about as effectively as a fish caught in a net, even going as far as hitting Barricade's back with his fists. Everyone and mech else just watched in surprise silence, even those who didn't personally know the two knowing about the two. So only one person bothered to cut the ex-con off, everyone and mech else smart enough to realize that whatever was going on was probably better taken care of elsewhere.

"He doesn't want to go, 'con." Blurr sneered, stepping in the way. "Even _I_ can tell that he isn't enjoying you right now."

He was challenging Barricade; forwardly enough that even Miles got what the Autobot was doing. He was calling Barricade stupider than he had been when he had arrived on Earth and shaken the teen up. Miles really regretted bringing up Blurr's previous Neutral status, the memory probably stirring the mech on, and Miles could feel Barricade tense up and hear him growl, the bond closed but Miles could just imagine the bubbling anger.

Barricade had too little of everything else and too much anger, Miles could remember feeling it through the bond. A defense mechanism, but one that hurt Barricade in the long run when he came to a place that he no longer needed it. If he got angry first, then there wasn't room for fear, betrayal, pain, confusion, or other such things. That was good in a war, but here where fighting wasn't the way the Cybertronians, on base at least, had to live anymore, it wasn't.

And Blurr was challenging Barricade. To what exactly, Miles didn't know. A physical fight or a verbal fight, either one would have been bad. Blurr hated Decepticons, and even though he was getting better with the ones on base, he was still bad with them. Barricade had anger problems, and wouldn't deal with a pompous Autobot for long. Miles knew he had to diffuse the situation quickly, but the bond was blocked, and it was hard to say anything to Blurr when he wasn't even facing the mech.

"Can you?" Barricade asked, a warning lacing those two words.

"I know your processor isn't that up to par, but I thought even you would be able to tell. Guess I was wrong."

Miles forcefully opened Barricade's side of the bond, the anger he felt staggering and he almost hesitated, before picturing exactly what he wanted and wrapping his emotions around the anger. Almost like a hug, more intimate than a physical one could ever be, but still almost not enough, Barricade's anger flaring briefly before it tapered off and the ex-con allowed Miles to make him relax. Then he closed off the bond.

"Guess so," Barricade said pleasantly enough, surprising Blurr.

Barricade walked past Blurr, leaving the Autobot speechless, and Miles still hanging over his shoulder. The teen was more happy that a fight hadn't started, half afraid that since their real bodies weren't near each other it would have been with holoforms. He waited until they got what he thought was a suitable distance before voicing a complaint.

"Could you put me down now?" Miles whined, "I'm hanging like a limp noodle here!"

"You've been avoiding me," Barricade replied, in a voice that made Miles wish the bond was still open so he'd know the emotions behind it.

"No," Miles lied, Barricade snorting. "Maybe. Just a little."

"I am your Guardian," Barricade said, something he rarely if ever brought up. Now he was lording it over the teen, using it as an excuse as to why he needed to know Miles location. "I need to know where you are."

"Sorry, _Bumblebee_, I'll make sure to tell you next time. Need to know when I use the bathroom too?" Miles asked flippantly, but it wasn't as effective when he was still hanging over Barricade's shoulder.

Barricade growled, "You've been freaking out over your wet dream and avoiding me because of it. What if something had happened?"

"I was with the fastest 'bot on base and the alarm would have sounded before then!" Miles retorted, "Honestly, what is with you and worrying lately?"

"You were worried about my reaction over the wet dream," Barricade snapped back.

"That's different!" Miles grit his teeth, trying to wiggle out of Barricade's grasp. "I'd be pretty freaked if I got turned on because of something you were doing; I didn't know how you'd feel. _You_ seem to think I'm out to kill myself for some reason lately! I swear you're bipolar!"

Barricade finally set the teen down, growling more. Miles scowled back, and before Barricade could say anything else he cut the ex-con off.

"And use your big words! You have emotions besides anger, say what they are! You're a big mech, so be honest about them!" Miles demanded, exasperated that with the bond closed Barricade could just hide behind the anger he had built up as a shield.

"Besides anger? Fine!" Barricade snarled, moving closer to the teen. Miles refused to back off, intent on not having a repeat of Wheeljack's lab. And then he exploded, "My enemies are now my friends, and the ones who were supposed to have my back before are now my enemies, so when I want to seriously damage one of those 'friends' like that glitchhead back there I can't! You freak out over some stupid thing, avoided me, and then replaced me with others! I've gradually come to realize that Primus has stuck me with someone I've come to need, but this someone has a thousand and one ways to die on their own, while some of my old faction will be gunning to kill them! So, please, tell me how I'm supposed to feel, because I don't know how to deal with this! Fighting and killing I have down, not touchy and feely slag like this!"

Miles was silent for a moment as he tried to decide what to tackle first, and if Barricade had been a human he would have been breathing heavily from his outburst.

"Just because I'm avoiding you and hanging out with others does not mean they're replacing you, stupid." Miles said gently, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't any good at touchy feely stuff when it mattered, either, so he guessed they were even. "I guess I did it because I was insecure, it's not like I have any idea how to deal with this either. I don't want to lose it though, and I think that may be why I was so worried. I don't want this to be something that ends with one of us hating each other, as silly as the idea seems now. And just ignore Blurr, everymech else will pitch in to keep him off you, I think. I know his reason for why, but it doesn't give him the right to pick fights. Nor does it mean you can pick fights. We really need to stop getting on the topic of my death, too. It's creepy to think about, and you said yourself, we don't know how all this stuff is going to affect me. I might be the next Clark Kent."

A snort. "You'll be the superman who flies into his own bedroom door."

"You said you wouldn't bring that up anymore!" Miles groaned, but couldn't bring himself to be anything near to angry or annoyed. Just happy that Barricade had calmed down again.

"If I don't remind you of your faults you'll never learn from them."

Miles grumbled halfheartedly, finally turning to walk back to his side of base. Barricade followed, and the two walked in a relieved but still loaded kind of silence. And this time it had been Miles' fault with everything that had happened. While he couldn't exactly be blamed for what he did in his sleep, how he acted after was his fault. After a bit Miles eyed Barricade warily.

"So it didn't bother you?" Miles asked, and then clarified "The wet dream, I mean."

"I'm not going to say no to a free overload," Barricade replied, and Miles couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Don't put it like that; it makes it sound even worse!" Miles cried.

"Should I say thank you?" Barricade asked innocently, "It would only be polite, after all. Tha-"

Miles gaped at Barricade, before covering his ears and walking ahead quickly. "Lalala, I can't hear you! Lalala!"

Barricade smirked and kept up with the teen. Miles was even more embarrassed than he had been that morning, almost enough to make him wish they were still fighting. Almost.


	55. Playing Possum

**AN: **OMG, another chapter! I actually really want to get this story completed before or on the day that I uploaded it on here. *w* Though with the ending I have in my mind atm it might have a continuation somewhere. So, yes, at this point I am doing _BARRICADE/MILES. _But I left it open so I could let myself take it back haha.

**Reviews: **Thanks to all who reviewed! (_Minimus Prime, Noella50881, MissShelz, shadow-dog18, Iwanita, 1Timberwolf, GabrielsDoubt, MissMary, souh, Kit Williams_)  
><span>Kit Williams:<span> Mwahaha, another poor soul converted to Miles/Barricade!

**AN2:** Yes, this now is including ROTF, if you couldn't guess from the Fallen appearing, but I am taking more than a few liberties with that plot line... They will go to Egypt, but I probably won't have Jetfire or Simmons appear because I have no need for them in the storyline yet. As for the Matrix of Leadership coming into play, I'll probably have it be needed to start the sun harvester since Primes all have one but the Fallen probably wouldn't. Or something like that, I need to rewatch the ending of ROTF.  
><strong>AN3:<strong> So, yes, at this point I am doing _BARRICADE/MILES. _But I left it open so I could let myself take it back haha.

**_Chapter 55  
>Playing Possum<em>**

* * *

><p>Miles' birthday had finally arrived, but that wouldn't be celebrated until later on in the day. Optimus had offered to let him get out of helping around base because of it, but Miles would have been bored with everyone else working anyway, so he had lined up with everyone else to get their jobs from Will. He, Prowl, Epps, and Barricade had been slotted to help Ratchet for the day, and the Medic requested that they take some supplies and equipment to the human Medbay. Which was all well and good, none of them minded. Anything too heavy for either of the organics the Cybertronians could carry. It didn't even bother them that most of the stuff had to be carted upstairs because that's where the storage was.<p>

But as Miles followed Barricade back down the steps to go get more boxes, he lost his balance and tilted forward, falling down the stairs. Luckily for him he was near the bottom when this happened, and Barricade had gone first, giving him something to land on.

Barricade grunted from underneath Miles, "There, this is your present, me saving your stupid aft from yourself."

Miles was too busy recovering from his mini heart attack to make a retort, but laughed breathlessly. It was always amazing how scary falling down a few stairs could be, and he was thankful for the body beneath him that softened the blow.

The ever familiar holoform of Barricade, surprisingly human and yet not at the same time. He certainly felt human, though the texture of the shirt and pants were the same, which was something that they all needed to work on because a cotton tee and blue jeans felt vastly different. Always just something a little too off in the eyes, sticking out even in broad daylight, and that wasn't even because they were more often red than anything else. A smug smirk, the look that too often accented that face whenever it came to Miles.

He could feel Barricade's affectionate amusement slipping through the bond, underlying traces of the small panic that had matched his own for a split second, the bond always sending echoes back from one side, and a mixture of relief and happiness from being able to catch the teen before he damaged himself too seriously.

Later, when Miles had a talk with Optimus, he wouldn't be able to really explain what made him move.

It had just been so easy to just lean forward a bit; press his lips against surprisingly soft simulated ones, and closing his eyes, making the moment seem even more right. But then reality settled into Miles like the weight of ten bricks in his stomach, dragging it down as he slammed his side of the bond down.

For a second, Miles could only stare down into red eyes, and dimly he couldn't help wondering who was more surprised by his actions, Barricade or himself. Or maybe whoever was playing audience to them because they weren't in private, and that thought sent a burst of _oh fuck_ shooting through Miles' veins, the teen scrambling up off Barricade and leaving the Medbay like Shockwave himself had risen from the grave and made a move towards him.

Epps stared after Miles in disbelief, while Prowl watched Barricade to see the ex-con's reaction. Barricade just sat up slowly, a calculating look in his simulated eyes as a pink darted out to lick fake lips. That, Prowl knew, could just be an instinctive reaction, seeing if a taste was left behind. But he wasn't sure what to make of the calculated look, and before he could get a good idea on what it might mean Barricade's holoform dissolved.

"I…" Epps trailed off before he even got started, looking at Prowl helplessly. "Who actually saw this happening?"

"It's obviously not that surprising, because I haven't glitched yet. So I, at least, have predicted the probability of one or both getting such emotions for each other and the outcome."

"Yeah? Well I think I'm gonna glitch." Epps muttered sourly, going and sitting on the stairs. "I'm too old for this crazy shit."

"Nothing 'crazy' has happened yet, Robert." Prowl pointed out helpfully.

Epps shot the SIC a dark look, "It's Barricade. And Miles. Of course something crazy is going to happen."

Prowl had nothing to say to that, because the soldier was most likely right.

* * *

><p>"Optimus?" Miles called, trotting up to the Prime as he sat in bipedal mode, soaking up some solar energy.<p>

Optimus lazily flicked a side mirror to catch the sun and shine it in the teen's face, indicating he was at least listening. He could tell that something was bothering the teen without even needing to scan him. It had almost been a straight year in the presence of Earth's dominant species, and the Prime was getting better at reading them. It was always easier when an organic was like Miles and Sam though, the two often wearing an expression that revealed what they were feeling. He had a harder time telling with experienced soldiers like Epps and Will.

"Do you know where Sam is?" Miles asked.

"He is currently on patrol with Bumblebee." Optimus replied, popping his passenger side door open for Miles to climb in. "I can take you to him, I am not busy."

And for once Optimus wasn't, taking the time to enjoy himself and take a break from his near constant work. He had come out and transformed into his bipedal mode, got a wash from Will, Fig, Graham, and Trent, and then had just idled in the same spot, allowing himself to dry off and drift into a light recharge.

Even if he was busy, he would have offered. The Prime had decided he didn't pay nearly enough attention to the Civilian organics on the base, and while it was hard to ignore Miles and Sam, he wasn't exactly bonding or having one on one chats with the two either. There was also Maggie, Mikaela, Glen, Trent, and Will's wife that he needed to talk to more.

Miles climbed in without another word, making himself comfortable. The Prime slid the seat belt around the teen for him, doing it before he could protest or try to himself. Most just opted to go without inside of a Cybertronian, but he wasn't one to allow that. A quick scan told him that Miles' scan was elevated and his stress indicators had risen. The heart rate was easily explained since he had seen the teen running, but the stress indicators weren't.

"Would you like to share your problems with me?" Optimus offered, starting to drive.

Miles looked out the window, "It has to do with Barricade."

It was common knowledge among everyone by now that Miles was head authority on the ex-con, no matter that Groundhog was now around or the fact that the two weren't even of the same species and had known each other for less than a year. Still, Optimus could try.

"Barricade is now one of my mechs, if you recall." Optimus pointed out, trying to indicate that as Barricade was now an Autobot he was a bigger concern for the Prime than he ever had been before.

"I kissed him."

Oh. "Well, I think Sam would be a better help with this than I would be."

Miles snorted, giving Optimus' dashboard an amused look. The Prime groaned internally at his own reaction.

"Or… you could tell me why you kissed him."

"I dunno."

If he had been in his alt mode, Optimus would have shuttered his optics in disbelief. Since he was in bipedal mode he just slowed down a bit, as if that would better help him to understand.

Optimus cleared his throat, careful to keep the confusion out of his tone. "Then how did it happen?"

"Ratch asked us to carry some junk to the human Medbay, and most of the storage is upstairs. Of course Barry ended up carrying most of the stuff I was supposed to anyway, but I did some of the work, so it was both of us going up and down the stairs, and Prowl and Epps were there too, but that doesn't actually matter at all. So on about the fifth trip we're going down the stairs and I end up slipping because I'm stupid, but it was okay because Barricade was there in front of me and it wasn't like I was that high up, though even with Barry as padding the landing still hurt a bit. Then he said that saving my 'stupid aft' was his present to me, and I could feel him through the bond, and I just-" Miles had to cut himself off to breathe, because all of what he had already said was done in one breath that just couldn't last any longer. "I kissed him. And then I ran."

Optimus could hear the rising edge of hysteria to Miles' voice, and he felt bad for the teen. He was trying to think of what he could say to soothe his worries, because while he knew and understood that a fresh bond could cause a mech or femme to react to something stronger than they originally would, like Miles kissing Barricade for rescuing him. Or the teen actually had feelings for the ex-con, and if that was so he was all Sam's, because Optimus had no idea what to say to that.

_**:SKYWARP AND THUNDERCRACKER ATTACKING! SKYWARP HAS SAM!:**_

Bumblebee's voice came on over Optimus' radio loud and clear, filling the silent cab with the desperation that the Scout had spoken into the comm with. Optimus knew that Bumblebee would have sent the message to everyone, and immediately scanned for the Scout and the intruding mechs, attempting to get to where they were quickly.

"What?" Miles asked, eyes wide. "How the hell are they on base?"

"The virus."

Now that they knew that the virus had escaped detection from Barricade and Bumblebee and gotten into Teletran's main frame they could get rid of it, but it was too late to stop it from causing any damage. The virus had allowed one of the Decepticons to reprogram Teletran without being taken, deleting the scrambler that had been put in that would have stopped Skywarp from warping on to or around base, and turning off the sensors that detected intruders in the first place.

Optimus made it to the battle area in no time at all, going so fast that he would have been breaking any and all organic road rules had he actually been on the road. Bumblebee was desperately trying to fend of Thundercracker, the larger mech having the upper hand as long as he was in the air, while Skywarp just watched, holding a squirming Sam in servo with a lazy smirk.

His first reaction was to transform, but the Prime wasn't confident enough to do that with Miles inside of him, because unlike Bumblebee he didn't see if he could transform with an organic inside of him for fun. This left him open for attack from Skywarp while Miles fumbled to unbuckle and open the door.

But instead of attacking Skywarp swooped down and grabbed the Prime's alt mode as best he could, before warping out of there.

* * *

><p>Ten miles away from the base in a surprisingly wooded area, considering just a few miles away there was nothing but desert, there was a popping noise as Skywarp came into appearance with the Prime and the organic who had killed his leader.<p>

Skywarp dropped Sam on the ground without any warning, and Optimus transformed as quick as possible, tilting to the side so Miles would fall out. Miles scrambled to his best friend's side even as Sam staggered to his feet, grabbed his fellow teen by the shoulders, and dragged him behind a fallen tree. The two ducked behind the tree, leaning their backs up against it as Sam tried to keep himself from throwing up.

Neither teen needed to look to know that Optimus would kick Skywarp's ass. But nothing was going as it should, because Megatron's voice rang out into the clearing.

"_Decepticon's, assemble!"_

Both teens listened in horror to the sound of Megatron transforming, and then the sound of three more jets flying in and transforming. The ground shook as all the extra weight landed on it at the same time, and Sam had to put his hands over his mouth to keep from retching. Miles shuffled so he could peer over the fallen log, heart falling when he saw that Optimus was surrounded.

"_It is a pleasure to see you again, __brother_._" _Megatron taunted in Cybertronian, before the Decepticon leader tsked. _"Make it easy on yourself and give us the organics."_

"You'll never get them!"

Megatron growled, _"How dare you speak in their filthy language to me when I speak ours to you!"_

"This is our home now, Megatron."

"_Our home is Cybertron!"_ Megatron snarled, _"But this disgusting little planet can be used for one thing. My Master tells me that one of the ancient sun harvesters has been hidden away on this world. We could harvest this sun to get our Energon! You must realize as well as I do that the supply we have now will not last us forever. A little coercing and the organics can tell us where it is. The Allspark knew, but Witwicky destroyed it!"_

"You'll have to go through me to get them!"

"That can be arranged."

Miles watched Optimus slide his battle mask down and draw two glowing swords, getting in a battle position. He had to close his eyes and turn back around, because he couldn't bring himself to watch anymore.

"I'll take you all on!"

He couldn't stand to watch Optimus try to take on all the Decepticons, see Megatron stand back and laugh even as the Prime managed to kill one of the Seekers he was so desperately going up against. It was all a game to Megatron, the Decepticon leader wasn't even worried that his once brother might win and it made Miles sick. He didn't need to see to know how confident Megatron was, to know how impossible it was for Optimus to win.

"Oh, God!" Sam said from beside him, obviously watching the battle before them even if Miles couldn't. "Miles, we have to help!"

Miles pressed his hands to his face, because how the hell were they supposed to help the Prime? They couldn't, they would just get in the way. Megatron was determined that he get Sam, if not both Sam and Miles. He'd probably be okay with just Miles if that was his only option, and thank God none of the Decepticons knew about Epps and Will being like the teens.

And then Miles knew. With sickening clarity, he knew that Megatron and his Decepticons would kill Optimus. That when the last Prime fell, Megatron's master would rise. Would rise and come to destroy Earth, and without Optimus none of them would be able to stop him.

He felt more than heard the Prime get knocked to the ground, and he desperately tried to tell him to stay down through his mind, no matter that after Skyfire he could no longer use comms. Try to tell him to stay down and play possum.

* * *

><p>Sam watched on in horror as Optimus managed to take down Skywarp and another mech. He didn't think Skywarp was dead, but there was no way he was getting back into the fight looking like that, and Optimus had managed to kill two out of five of the mechs he was up against, only having two left to go through with Skywarp out of the count. Out of all of them he could only recognize Skywarp and Megatron.<p>

He watched as Optimus was batted to the ground, and it was really unfair that one of the two mechs he still had to go through was taller than him, and the fact that the other was Megatron.

"OPTIMUS, GET UP!"

Sam couldn't help but yell in encouragement and horror, watching the Prime as he narrowly avoided a plasma blast to the chassis from the mech he didn't know before jumping back on to his feet. He glanced to his side, becoming instantly worried when he saw that Miles was just staring off into space blankly, because that was a huge difference from how he had been hiding his face in his hands just a minute earlier.

"AUTOBOTS, THERE THEY ARE!"

Ratchet's bellow was a welcome one to Sam's ears, and he turned back to the fight as he was distracted by it. But it distracted Optimus too, the Prime turning to see how far off his Autobots were when Megatron and the mech he didn't know the designation of grabbed him, Megatron running him through the chassis with his sword.

"OPTIMUS, NO!"

Sam screamed, not even noticing as he felt Miles slump against him, too busy watching as Optimus fell back to the ground, optics dimming until they no showed the telltale blue that differentiated the Decepticons from the Autobots.

"_Pathetic."_ Megatron sneered, _"Cyclonus, check to see if his Spark is extinguished."_

The unknown mech, Cyclonus, bent to check before nodding. Megatron laughed in triumph, transforming with Cyclonus, the two grabbing Skywarp, and flying off just as Ratchet, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Prowl, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Trailbreaker arrived and transformed.

Sam moved out from behind the tree, racing to where Optimus' body laid. Ratchet was over by his Prime's side a second later, bending down to check on him.

"No, no, no, no, no, Ratch, he can't be dead! Save him!"

Ratchet ignored Sam, gesturing for Bumblebee to take him away as he examined his Prime. At Sam's words Ironhide had snarled, shooting off a few rounds at the fleeing Megatron and Cyclonus. Bumblebee grabbed his Charge, and Prowl came to stand at the Scout's side. Sunstreaker stood glowering next to Ironhide while his twin looked for Miles. Sam started to get hopeful when Ratchet spent so long checking over Optimus, the Medic's servos disappearing into the hole that had been made by Megatron and doing who knew what inside of him. He climbed on to Bumblebee's shoulder.

Ratchet slumped back away from Optimus, raising his optics to stare at Bumblebee and Prowl in front of him.

"His Spark is gone," Ratchet whispered, staring at all of them in disbelief.

Bumblebee let out a distressed warble, and Prowl just stared at the Medic in shock. Even Ironhide stopped shooting, turning wide optics to the fallen body of his Prime. Sideswipe was too busy realizing something was wrong with Barricade's organic, and Sunstreaker was too shocked to stop glowering.

"He's offlined?" Ironhide's voice was thick with emotion, "That's impossible!"

"His Spark is gone, but he's not dead."

* * *

><p>In the place that was everything and nothing at the same time, Miles knew something had changed. This was mainly because he could <em>literally<em> see Optimus, something that had never happened before. He had just known that Sam, Epps, and Will were with him before when they had saved Orion though he'd not had any proof. Now he couldn't feel anyone, couldn't feel Optimus, and he couldn't even access the bond he had with Barricade. But he could see Optimus.

"Where are we?"

Optimus asked, and Miles realized that while he had been staring at the Prime the Prime had been staring right back, clearly confused.

"I think where me n' the others go," Miles shrugged, looking around.

Like before there was no light, but it wasn't dark. It wasn't cold or hot, dry or wet. It just _was_. And now he could just see Optimus, and he didn't need to look down to know that the Prime could see him as well. There was also a floor, so he no longer felt like he was just floating in complete nothingness. He felt calm, and he couldn't tell if that was because he already knew where he was, had been there before, or had some idea why he was there now. A look at Optimus' faceplates told him that the Prime was so lost he was practically in China.

"You had to die so Megatron's master could rise again. I'm not sure if I'm here because that means we can bring you back so you can kick all their asses or not, but I do know that if Sam, Will, or Epps don't figure out where that sun harvester thingy is before the baddies then we're all royally screwed."

Optimus shuttered his optics, taking in this information slowly. "And how do you know all this?"

"Dunno."

"That sounds about right." Optimus vented softly, sitting down heavily. "So what can we do?"

"Just chillax and wait, boss 'bot. It'll either come to us, or we'll be dragged out of here."

Miles sat down himself, mirroring Optimus' position. Optimus glanced around, but stopped when he realized there was nothing to see. He vented again, not even trying to hide how uncomfortable he was from the teen. Sitting around and doing nothing wasn't on his list of how to take care of things, but there didn't seem to be any other option. Miles was clearly calm about the situation.

"I'm not Sam, but we could still talk about Barricade." He offered finally, because slag it, he could at least do _something_.

Miles seemed to pale right before his optics at Barricade getting mentioned, "Oh, Primus, if we're dead Barry's gonna kill me!"

Optimus didn't point out that if they were dead Barricade couldn't kill Miles again, because for some reason he could actually see the ex-con managing to do that. He shuttered his optics, silently praying for Miles' sake that they weren't in fact dead. He didn't think he could handle the sight of Barricade defying all the laws of Primus and Unicron and still claim himself as sane. He could barely claim that now.


	56. One Shall Rise, One Shall Fall

**AN:** Okay, so my computer broke. I'm alternating between my mom's and dad's, which makes writing these chapters a huge pain in the ass now! I was originally going to have this as two separate chapters, but combined them instead. I actually wrote the last part of this first, and boy was I having a hard time with that.  
><strong>Reviews:<strong> Thanks to all who reviewed! (_CrazyNutSquirrel, shadowhaseo, MissShelz, shadow-dog18, MissMary, SilentPerson, electro moonlight, Tsume28_)  
><strong>AN2:<strong> These chapters are already unbeta'd, and coupled with the craziness of switching computers every few hours there might be more mistakes than usual. Please put up with it! x_x

**_Chapter 56  
><em>****_One Shall Rise, One Shall Fall_**

* * *

><p>There was a tense silence in the Medbay. Optimus Prime and Miles lay on separate berths; Ratchet working on his Prime while the teen was connected to a heart rate monitor so the Medic could keep track of his vitals without having to constantly scan him. Ironhide, Prowl, Jazz, Bumblebee, and Barricade were the only other mechs in the room. The only organics in the room, not including Miles, were Epps, Will, and Sam.<p>

Sam sat in his Guardian's servo, and had fallen asleep at some point. No one could blame the teen; it had nearly been a whole day since the attack had happened, Ratchet working tirelessly to repair his Prime. Before he even tried to figure out the whole mess with the missing Spark, Ratchet had to make sure Optimus was whole again. It would do him no good to have a Spark if he would just die right after.

Epps and Will were used to long hours and they weren't fazed in the least when Ironhide had tried to order them to sleep. Ratchet was too busy with Optimus to really pay attention to anyone else, even Miles, terrified that if something went wrong and his Spark suddenly came back that he wouldn't be able to save his Prime. Everyone and mech just accepted that whatever was going on was thanks to Miles, since absolutely nothing was wrong with the teen.

When Ratchet finally finished piecing his Prime back together, he leaned back and vented heavily. Working on the Spark chamber was extremely delicate work, but with the mech he was working on not actually needing it at the moment, it went a lot faster. Still, Ratchet took his time to make sure there were no minute faults or any of the like. He would not bring death just because he wanted to rush life.

"How do we get his Spark back?" Ironhide asked once he made sure the Medic wasn't just taking a break.

If he interrupted Ratchet he knew he'd regret it. The Medic had already screamed poor First Aid out of the Medbay when he'd suggested that Ratchet took a break, wrenches flying after him. Everyone and mech else was smart enough to keep their mouths shut. Ironhide was strong enough to take down a good few Decepticons on his own, but everymech and femme in their right mind feared a Medic in a bad mood.

"If I knew I would be doing it, Ironhide." Ratchet said shortly.

"Here," Prowl said, offering the Medic a cube of Energon. "Drink it; you've missed your daily requirement now."

Ratchet took it with a small nod of thanks, optics never leaving Optimus and Miles.

"We all know that it is literally impossible to survive without a Spark, or it should be. And yet Optimus is living proof that it can be done, if you can call what he is doing living. This is going in the records, and Medics everywhere will officially hate Miles." Ratchet sounded somewhat bitter, but then again what Medic wouldn't? An organic who could keep a mech alive without a Spark, as unthinkable as it was all Cybertronian Medics would love to do that very thing.

"I get the feeling that Miles isn't going to wake up unless the boss 'bot does, but that leads us to the same question again." Epps was perched on Jazz's shoulder, and looked thoughtful. "How do you wake a 'bot who's missing his Spark?"

"Ah'd say try stimulation…" Jazz trailed off, "But there ahn't nothin' to stimulate."

"Barricade?" Bumblebee asked, drawing the ex-con's attention from Miles. "Can you contact Miles through your bond at all?"

"No. The bond is there, but I can't pick up anything from the other side."

"That's more than me 'n Epps got." Will said with a sigh, "We can't even feel him right now. Sam's dead to the world, so we can't even ask him."

Ratchet slammed a servo down on one of the empty berths, "Slag it! Barricade, why can't you keep a better optic on your charge? He was supposed to be helping you with the supplies in the human medbay, how did he end up with Optimus?"

"Miles was the one who ran, actually." Epps said, Prowl nodding. "So you really can't blame Barricade here. Though come to think of it he ditched us too."

"Under the circumstances not even Prowl wrote me up." Barricade pointed out, sending both the soldier and the SIC a look that told them to shut their mouths.

"What happened?" Bumblebee asked, because Sam would want to know. And he was curious.

Epps would have answered him if Sam hadn't suddenly sat up in Bumblebee's servo, barely looking like he was awake and already talking.

"We need to go to Egypt." Sam said tiredly, stretching. Too tired to think that there needed to be clarification.

"Egypt?" Bumblebee asked, looking down at his Charge.

"Egypt." Sam sounded annoyed that he needed to repeat himself.

"Why Egypt, Sam?" Prowl asked.

"We have to get the Matrix of Leadership before the Decepticons do." Sam frowned, "If they get it they will activate the Sun Harvester, and we will all die."

"And how do you know this?" Prowl asked again.

"Miles told me." Sam said this as if it should have been obvious, but then again by this point it should have been. "Optimus is with him, I guess because if his Spark actually passed on to the Well of Sparks then it would be harder to bring him back. The Fallen needed the last descendant of the Primes to die before he could rise, but I guess he didn't count on Optimus playing possum."

All of the mechs had to take a moment to look up just what playing possum meant via the internet, but Will and Epps already knew. Jazz laughed.

"Thas Cybahtronian meetin' human, tha' is. Ah guarahntee tha' Miles thought of it. Ahn't no possums on Cybahtron."

Will nodded, "Where in Egypt do we have to go, and when do we have to go by?"

"The Matrix of Leadership and the Sun Harvester are in two different places. I'm not sure how close together they are, but the Decepticons are already on their way to the Sun Harvester. The Fallen will be able to locate the Matrix of Leadership from there. The exact location of the Matrix of Leadership I don't know, but I will when we get there." Sam looked down at Miles, "We need to go now."

"Now?" Will blinked at him, before climbing down off Ironhide and walking outside the Medbay. "_SKYFIRE! WE NEED A RIDE TO EGYPT!_ _AND GET KELLER ON THE PHONE, WOULD YOU?_"

"What have you been teaching him, Ironhide?" Prowl asked, raising an optic at the Weapons Specialist.

Ironhide shrugged, "Yelling gets stuff done. Next lesson is how to bellow."

As it would turn out Will was the Captain for a reason, and rounded up several military issue cargo planes that would be able to cart a good deal of them over to Egypt in under two hours. Four hours later and they were loading mechs and soldiers up. Not all of them would be going, and Trailbreaker and Graham were dealing out straws. The mechs with the shorter ones stayed.

Skyfire would be carrying Miles, Ratchet, Optimus, and Barricade. Everyone and mech else would be on one of the military issued cargo planes. Will, Epps, Fig, Graham, and up to ten other soldiers were going. Sam was the only civilian without counting Miles, and Mikaela had pitched a half hour fit before Trent managed to calm her down enough that the others could escape. Ironhide, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, Groundhog, Soundwave, three cassetticons, Jazz, Bumblebee, Skids and Mudflap, and also Trailbreaker would be going.

* * *

><p>Ratchet stared at Barricade throughout the flight, the ex-con becoming increasingly annoyed by it. Barricade hadn't said a single word, while Ratchet had been pleasantly chatting with Skyfire. Skyfire had eventually fallen silent, and the now bored Medic focused all of his attention on Barricade. Sure, he was still checking on Optimus, but he wasn't even bothering with Miles anymore. Barricade would say something if any of the teen's vitals changed, of that he was certain.<p>

"Prowl told me what happened," Ratchet said idly, "What're you gonna do when he wakes up?"

Barricade glared at Ratchet, "I do not see how that is any of your business."

"What happened?" Skyfire asked, his voice filling his cargo hold.

"Miles kissed Barricade."

"Oh? That's interesting."

"_Very_ interesting. So interesting, in fact, that it would be rude of Barricade not to respond, don't you think?"

"Oh, yes. Some response is required after something like that. If you two do get together, may I perform a few scans?"

"You are both a bunch of busybodies!" Barricade snarled, slamming his servo down on the floor. "And no, no ifs, no scans, no responses."

A snort from Ratchet, "I think he's in denial."

"Perhaps he does not wish to think of it with Miles in his current condition." Skyfire responded thoughtfully, "When things appear to be taking a turn for the best then you should give it due thought, Barricade."

"I will jump out." Barricade threatened, glaring at the floor. Skyfire couldn't see his glare and it would never faze Ratchet.

"And leave Miles?" Ratchet taunted, "What if something changed?"

Barricade growled, wishing they were there already. He'd take sand in his armor and in his joints over dealing with a gossiping Medic and Seeker.

* * *

><p>Sam sat against a wall of the cargo plane he was on, staring blankly ahead. A story was writing itself out in his mind, and he could do nothing to stop it.<p>

"Sam?" Bumblebee asked gently, nudging his Charge softly with one large finger.

Sam didn't flinch, didn't react at all except for the fact that he began to mutter to himself.

"The Tomb of the Primes is where the Matrix of Leadership is hidden." Sam muttered, "The Fallen was originally a Prime, one of the first in the Dynasty of the Primes. The Matrix of Leadership was made to power the Sun Harvesters, but the Dynasty of the Primes avoided any suns that might have sentient life depending on them. They found our sun, and despite the vast amounts of energy it could have produced refused to use it because there was us. There was Earth."

Sam looked up at his Guardian, voice cracking. "He betrayed them, Bee. They were his brothers and he just betrayed them all! He killed some of them, just killed his brothers just like that! They managed to weaken him, and then made the Tomb to hide the Matrix."

"Sam, it's okay." Bumblebee cooed gently, getting out his holoform so he could place it beside the teen. He was already sending all the information he got to all of the mechs on his commline, and they would tell the organic soldiers.

"No, it isn't! He was going to just let us all die, was content with murdering his brothers, and wants us to die now! He's even worse than Megatron! How are we supposed to beat a mech like that?"

Bumblebee sighed, pulling Sam close and holding him there as his Charge shook, attempting to hum a gentle tune to get him to calm down as he stroked his hair. This wasn't the first time he wished that Sam had never had anything to do with the Allspark energy that was inside of him, because there was no other explanation for what Sam was saying. He was angry at Primus for using his Charge as a chess piece, even if it was in a beneficial way for them all. Sam was too young to be dealing with all of this, too young for war, and certainly too young to see the possibility of those around him dying.

But Bumblebee could only protect him from so much.

* * *

><p>Sam's heart was in his throat, the wind nearly deafening as he stared at the ground that seemed so very, very far away. He was strapped to Graham, the British soldier wearing the parachute that would be keeping them from going splat. Next to them were Bumblebee, Skids and Mudflap attached to his chassis, the Scout wearing the parachute for them.<p>

After they had reached a certain point Sam had just _known_ that this was the spot that he needed to go. But he would have preferred if the cargo planes actually landed instead of having his first ever experience of skydiving.

"Are you ready?" Will was screaming at him, but Sam could barely hold him.

Sam gulped, "I think I should use the bathroom again!"

He could literally feel Graham shaking, but was unable to hear the soldier laugh. Skids and Mudflap both looked just as terrified as he felt. As embarrassing as it would have been, he almost wished that he would have been facing Graham instead so he could cling to the older man and not have to see the sand below them. But no, his back was against Graham's stomach, the soldier having one arm wrapped around his waist just in case.

Graham probably thought he was joking, but Sam was fairly certain that despite the fact that he'd just emptied his bladder he was going to piss himself.

Will gave a thumbs up, and Sam could have sworn his heart stopped, he certainly wasn't breathing as Graham moved them forward. He knew he probably should have been walking, but luckily enough for the both of them Graham was strong enough to support both his weight and Sam's. Give him Megatron chasing him through Mission City, Shockwave and Hook experimenting on him, being kidnapped by Skyfire. Anything he could handle, anything but _this_.

He really hated heights.

Within seconds Graham had them up against the edge, and for a moment they just teetered there. Sam didn't know why until he saw Bumblebee race past and jump off, the twins screaming in terror so loudly that it was the first thing Sam could hear clearly. And then Graham jumped, and Sam was screaming too, clenching his eyes shut and grabbing on to Graham's arm so tight he was sure his nails were breaking skin.

They landed safely on the ground after a lot more time in the air than Sam would have liked. As soon as Graham released his half of the harness his knees gave out beneath him and he was kissing the sand, happy to feel it behind him. Skids and Mudflap were doing something very similar, while Bumblebee just shook his helm with a grin.

"You blokes are pansies," Graham commented idly, arms

"Tha' ain't cool, man." Skids protested.

Mudflap continued, "Yeah, 'bots ain't made tah fly! Thas a Seekers job!"

Sam pushed himself up off the sand, going over to Bumblebee and putting a hand on his leg plating as he looked up at the sky. Skyfire and the military issued cargo planes were already just small blobs. He took a deep breath, looking around. He had no idea what way to go.

"Which way, Sam?" Bumblebee asked, looking down at his Charge.

"Uh…"

Both Bumblebee and Graham gave him a sharp look, Graham adding a growl. "You said you'd know when you got here!"

Sam shrinked back, knowing this was too serious of a situation to pout. He closed his eyes, inhaling as slowly as he could and trying to clear his mind. Clearing his mind was extremely hard to do with Skids and Mudflap as close as they were, which was only fifty feet away. Everyone and mech were fairly sure that the Twins minor didn't even know the definition of quiet.

"Yo, me 'n 'Flap are gonna go check out tha' there mountain sculpture thingie."  
>"Yeah, tha' shit was on the discovery channel! Tha there means we in Petra, yo."<p>

Sam's eyes snapped open and he looked at where the twins were already racing off to. He started chasing after them, Bumblebee and Graham watching in confusion. He waved at them.

"Come on, that's it! That's the Tomb of the Primes!"

* * *

><p>Bumblebee drove through the open archway of the Tomb of the Primes, Skids and Mudflap already waiting for him. He let Sam and Graham climb out before transforming, activating his high beams and shining them around the open room to light the area more. If they had been a normal archeologist team maybe the ancient Earth hieroglyphs and painted pictures might have meant something, but as they were looking for something considerably less Earthen, they meant nothing.<p>

The room was empty.

Sam looked around with wide unbelieving eyes, and Graham frowned. The soldier did a cursory lap of the large pillared room, looking for any tiny entrances or hidden doors. But there was nothing. Sam slumped against a wall, sliding against it until he hit the floor and put his head in his hands.

"It looks like humans have been here before, perhaps we removed." Graham said gently, trying to provide some sense of the hope that had just been lost.

Skids snorted, "Yo, we came here fo' nothin'! Ain't no way we beatin' the scary dude now! We all gonna die with the sun!"

"Bro!" Mudflap growled, punching his twin on the chassis. "Ain't no need ta be such a pessimist!"

"Punch me again an' yo gonna get an ass whoopin!"

"Oh, like this?" Mudflap punched his twin harder.

"Thas it!" Skids tackled his twin, wrestling him to the ground and then rolling around with him. Mudflap managed to pin him, and Skids growled, kicking his twin off and into a the wall just beside Sam.

"Watch it!" Sam yelped as he dove out of the way.

Mudflap groaned as he slid to the floor, "Tha' hurt!"

"Thas supposed to, thas an ass whoopin!"

Mudflap growled and quickly went at Skids again, Bumblebee getting annoyed and grabbing the both of them by the back of their helms and then tossing them outside like they were nothing more than trash. He turned to scan his Charge to make sure Sam was okay, but Sam was examining a hole in the wall that Mudflap had created, sticking his head in.

"Bee, shoot here! I think this is it!"

Sam scrambled back and out of the way while Bumblebee transformed his arm into his plasma cannon, taking aim and firing several plasma bursts at the damaged wall, furthering the damage as several pieces just fell, a large gust of wind leaving the room that had been hidden behind it.

* * *

><p>While Sam and the others played around in the Tomb of the Primes, Skyfire and the military issued cargo planes landed in a tiny little outcropping of a village that was near to the pyramid where the Sun Harvester was located. Skyfire was evacuated, Optimus placed in the sands and covered with a tarp. It wouldn't do much to hide the large frame of the Prime, but it would provide a little protection from the heat scanners that the Decepticons could do to see if he was alive.<p>

Almost immediately they were under attack, a good deal of Decepticons crawling around on the sand already. They split up into two teams. Will and Epps, with Miles piggybacking on one of their backs, ran to what little protection the village offered, and it was also closer to where Sam, Bumblebee, Graham, and the twins minor would be coming from. Barricade, Groundhog, Soundwave, his three cassetticons, and Skyfire followed after the three organics.

Ratchet, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jazz, and Trailbreaker were the other team. Trailbreaker stayed next to the frame of his Prime, a force field already activated and cast over his fallen leader to protect him that much more. They were joined by Fig and the ten other soldiers that had been brought along, guns and ammo already at the ready.

They were all going against their fair share of Decepticons. In the distance the NEST organics and Autobots could see that Megatron and the Fallen were climbing the pyramid the Sun Harvester was in together, trying to scale to the top of it with their claws. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe went after them, while the first team got Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and a few other Seekers.

Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz, Fig, and the ten soldiers were left with Motormaster, Drag Strip, Dead End, Breakdown, and Wildrider. On their own the five Stunticons would pose no problem, but together they could combine to become one of the Decepticons deadliest weapons: Menasor.

"We need back up! Send in more 'bots!" Fig yelled into his radio as soon as he saw Menasor, before making the sign of the holy cross over himself and mumbling a prayer.

"I'm too old for this slag," Ratchet muttered, transforming one servo into his feared buzzsaw and the other into a cannon.

* * *

><p>"Is there any way that you can save Starscream, restore his processor so he's no longer Reprogrammed?" Miles asked, glancing up at the Primes who now surrounded him. "Skyfire really likes him. <em>Really<em> likes him."

Miles had just been chilling out with Optimus one second, and then found himself surrounded by a group of extremely pointy looking mechs. He knew them to be the Primes without them needing to introduce themselves, but the introductions they had given him were nice. He had given his own, but that had only appeared to amuse them.

Miles would quickly find out that it had been the Primes pulling all the strings behind whatever happened, though they claimed it was all for Primus. He was told the story of the first thirteen Cybertronians, and how they formed the original Dynasty of the Primes. How the Matrix of Leadership came into play, and what Sun Harvesters did with the energy they harvested. How the Fallen, once a Prime himself, had decided to go against what the Dynasty of the Primes stood for and try to use a Sun Harvester on a sun that had a planet with sentient life. The ensuing battle where the Fallen killed his own brethren, and then was weakened when they retaliated, but not defeated. How the Primes had sacrificed any chance at living to create the Tomb so they could hide the Matrix from their fallen brother.

He relayed everything that he was told to both Sam and Optimus, seeing as the only living Prime no longer had Miles to keep him entertained.

The Primes seemed to share a look, before one of them nodded.

"Little one, Starscream will soon be grabbing you and attempting to kill you." The Prime said bluntly, "The Allspark energy inside of you will be used to save your life."

"There's a but, that's the only reason you're telling me this."

"The Allspark energy could be used to override everything Shockwave has done to Starscream, restore him to his right mind."

"And then he and Skyfire could be together!"

"Yes, but the chances of all of the Autobots being welcoming is very slim. He is the SIC of the entire Decepticon army."

"But that's not his fault! He was Reprogrammed, he never wanted to do any of that!"

The Primes looked amused, and Miles shut his mouth. He was just telling them what they already knew.

"So you're basically saying that the Allspark energy can either be used to save my life, or be used to save Starscream and make Skyfire incredibly happy. Alright."

"_Alright_?"

The Prime who said it sounded baffled, mirroring the expression of bafflement they all wore. It was hard to tell which Prime spoke, but it didn't really matter since he was answering to all of them. He knew without needing to ask that they knew about Barricade, of course they would. They apparently knew everything already, knew his feelings for the ex-con, and probably even knew Barricade's feelings for him.

Miles smiled a little sadly, "Barry's never going to be happy with me, even if he does return my feelings. I get hurt too easily, and I'll die too soon. If we got too serious he'd be left broken hearted. I don't want to do that to him. Skyfire never had a chance with Starscream Reprogrammed, and I think after everything they both deserve a little happiness once your damned war is finally over."

* * *

><p>"Starscream, put Miles down!" Skyfire demanded, sounding more like he was begging the Seeker than anything else.<p>

Even if Miles could have posed a fight, it would have been useless. Perhaps if he'd been awake instead of in the coma he could have bought himself some time, could have tried to talk the Seeker out of it or alerted someone or mech to the fact that Starscream had gone after him at all. In the heat of battle it had been impossible to keep an eye on Miles' prone form the whole time, and none had suspected any Decepticon would go for it so close to so many of the opposite faction.

But Starscream had known that if he had gone in one direction Skyfire would see him, and Skyfire would never say anything in case one of his comrades attacked his old friend. He'd never expected Starscream to pick up Miles, though. When he saw that he couldn't just not say anything, already feeling guilty that the teen had been 'caught' in the first place, never mind whatever Starscream was planning on doing to him.

Immediately, Barricade had his plasma cannon pointing at Starscream, and even Skyfire had his own weapon facing the Decepticon Seeker. That was all that could be spared on Starscream at the moment, the others doing battle with other Decepticons.

Starscream sneered at Barricade, not even giving Skyfire a momentary glance. "Something wrong, traitor? Care for this little organic a bit too much?"

"Put him down, Seeker!" Barricade snarled, optics watching desperately as Starscream examined the limp organic in his servo.

"Mm, sounds like it." Starscream commented idly, optics glinting dangerously. "That's a mistake."

It took less than thirty seconds for Starscream to close his servo around Miles, drawing it out for the two mechs watching him, and _squeeze_, crushing Miles on the inside. He was only a little disappointed that the squishy in his servo didn't wake up and cry out while it happened, but supposed the expression on Barricade's faceplates would have to do. He scanned the organic to mark his departure into the afterlife, pleased at how frail they were. One mediocre squeeze and this one was fast approaching death, barely able to draw in breath so Starscream could only assume some of the tiny organic's bones had punctured its lungs.

His scans finally showed him when the heartbeat stopped completely five seconds later, and another second before a bright light blinded him, making him cry out in shock. Internal scanners, different from the kind they used to scan organics and the like, picked up a huge spike in Allspark energy, but his optics shorted out as he felt a tendril of that energy squirm under the armor under his hand and split into two, one darting to his Spark chamber and the other to his processor. In his shock he dropped the organic in his servo, the very source of the spike of energy, before blacking out completely.

All Skyfire and Barricade saw was the light that blinded Starscream, scanners reading a spike in the Allspark energy that Miles held-_had_ held-as it seemed to be leaving him and entering Starscream instead. It seemed that once the Allspark energy left him completely was when Miles truly died, systems coming to a complete stop. Then Starscream dropped Miles' body, Barricade darting forward and catching his organic, while Skyfire darted forward to grab Starscream before the unconscious Seeker crumpled to the ground completely.

Barricade literally felt the bond he held with Miles break, filling his Spark with pain even as he desperately scanned the teen for any sign of life again and again. It felt like his Spark was being torn in two, the physical and emotional loss of his bond almost too much, and he refused to believe it. He refused to believe that the one who had managed to worm their way into his Spark was leaving just like that. He was supposed to be dead, but Miles had saved him. He couldn't do anything to save Miles from Starscream, and there was nothing he could do to bring the teen back, either.

Miles _couldn't_ be dead.

"Get up!" Barricade demanded, prodding the prone form gently, hoping that it would garner some sort of reaction. "Get up, slag it! You can't do this!"

"Barricade!" Somemech was shouting at him, trying to pull him away from Miles, and he couldn't let them, lashing out at whomever it was. "Barricade, enough!"

"Let me go!" Barricade snarled, but now there were two of them, both working together to pick him up and drag him away.

He worked his arm free and punched one of them in the faceplates. Soundwave. The mech would get over it. Groundhog was holding his other arm still, grip so tight it was almost crushing the outside armor. He had been the first one to grab Barricade, and Barricade would have punched him too if he wasn't distracted by Will and Epps taking the chance to dart out and grab Miles' body.

"Get _off_ him!" They were going to hurt him even more, because he couldn't be dead, just in so much pain from Starscream trying to squeeze him to death that only Barricade should attempt to move him. Even he knew that was desperate thinking, but it was better than accepting the reality of the moment, struggling against Groundhog, and Soundwave when the mech finally got a hold on him again. "Leave him alone!"

"Miles is dead, Barricade." Soundwave said monotonously, Groundhog sending him a sharp look, but it shocked him enough to make him stop struggling. "He's dead. There's nothing more any of us can do for him."

Barricade felt like he was dying, that was the only way to explain all the pain he felt in his Spark. He was alone again, the comforting knowledge that if he just reached out he could feel Miles no longer there. Even in the coma he'd been there. And now he was gone completely, dead. Barricade had known that organics had short lifespans, but Miles wasn't supposed to have died this soon, only seventeen.

It wasn't _fair_. He shouldn't have to lose the one person he actually really cared about, more than he'd ever cared about his Race Track Patrol team, despite the relatively short amount of time he'd actually spent with Miles. Not even a full year by human standards, certainly not even the blink of an eye to a being that lived as long as a Cybertronian did. But it felt like it had been forever, and Barricade had been counting on even longer. Something that had been ripped away from him by Starscream.

There was no replacement for Miles. No one else who would react the same way to finding out the car they were trying to wash was alive, no one else who would then try their damnedest to befriend said car, no one else who he'd let get by with calling him _Barry_, no one else he could cradle against his Spark chamber after they'd been kidnapped by that poor excuse of a Scientist and have it just feel natural to do, no one else he could have a fight with and make up with in the same day. No one else who would grin at him like Miles did, laugh at him like Miles did, tease him or yell at him, be strong enough to admit he was scared and that he wanted to sleep inside of Barricade to feel safe after Shockwave had cut him open, no one else who would do that because they knew it was what Barricade wanted, too, just to reassure himself that much more that the teen was still okay. No one else who had ever cared enough to try and save Barricade themselves when Barricade had been dying, accidentally creating a bond with him. A bond that no one else would have been so happy to have with the ex-con, so happy to treasure. Miles was a one of a kind person, seemingly perfect to Barricade, and now he was gone.

Miles was dead, and Barricade felt like a part of him had died along with the teen.

Oddly enough, he didn't blame Starscream. No, he blamed Skyfire. If the Scientist hadn't been so damned obsessed with Starscream, hadn't been purposefully ignoring where his friend went on the battlefield, then Miles would still be alive. If Skyfire had never downloaded the virus from Shockwave to try to figure out how to help Starscream in the first place then maybe none of this would have happened, and Miles would still be alive.

He tore himself away from Soundwave and Groundhog, and then launched himself at Skyfire, taking the larger mech by surprise.

Skyfire was not a little mech by any means. The Scientist was even bigger than his Prime, in both length and width. Being a Seeker just gave him an added boost in the width department, and being a Scientist meant he kept his frame bulky for exploring on different worlds. Being a scientist also meant he had to keep failsafes, if the inhabitants of a world were particularly violent he had to have a way to protect himself, after all. Not all of the planets they landed on had tiny inhabitants like Earth did.

It stood to reason that a mech like Barricade would pose no problem for him. Barricade was just a step up from being a mini-bot like Skids and Mudflap, roughly the same size as Bumblebee. Bulkier than the Scout was, certainly, but not that much taller. Tiny when put next to Optimus Prime and even tinier when put next to Skyfire.

But when Barricade attacked Skyfire, the Seeker busy checking over Starscream worriedly, it took less than three minutes for Skyfire to somehow be on the losing side. Skyfire immediately got up, Barricade able to just hang on to his frame, and distanced himself from Starscream, trying to shake the angry ex-con off and pry him off forcefully. It took another five minutes before the combined efforts of Groundhog, Soundwave, and Skyfire himself would manage to pry a snarling Barricade off of the Scientist.

"It's your fault he's dead!" Barricade yelled, struggling against Soundwave and Groundhog so he could get back at Skyfire.

"I'm sorry," Skyfire apologized, looking at the angered ex-con with sad optics. He already knew that he was at least partly to blame, and couldn't hold it against Barricade for attacking him. Miles had meant a lot to Barricade.

"Sorry? You're _sorry_?" That just seemed to anger Barricade more, Groundhog barely able to hold on to him. Soundwave had finally gotten out what the organics referred to as his tentacles, and he had a much easier time of holding on. "You can tell him you're sorry after I kill you and you see him in the Well of Sparks!"


	57. Battle at Egypt

**AN: **I would have had this up sooner but at some point I lost what I'd written and had to start again. KILL ALL THE-  
><strong>Reviews:<strong> Holy crap, thanks to the many reviews! (_BrowneyedShamer, Ryen Selenity Caliburn, Guest x2, redheadclaire25, Iwanita, MissShelz, CrazyNutSquirrel, mrsharrypotter, SilentPerson, electro moonlight, NikitaMarieNightingale, Queen Mariko, Idontknow007, Simple Shimmers_)  
><strong>AN2: <strong>It actually wasn't until I read _BrowneyedShamer's_ review that the idea of bringing Miles (plus one other who you'll read about) back as a mech. Human bodies are pretty fragile, plus the brain and it's neediness with oxygen... I'm thinking maybe **Pretenders**. What do you guys think of this idea? Bring Miles and spoiler back as **Pretenders?  
>AN3: <strong>A Pretender is the closest thing I could find/know about that would still let them look/feel human. Whether they'd be able to go metal like Alice did I don't know. Alice was rather horrifying...

**_Chapter 57  
><em>Battle at Egypt**

* * *

><p>Being at the Temple of the Primes meant that they weren't near the pyramids where all the main action was taking place. Bumblebee had to keep in touch with the others through their internal comms, and he was unsure if Skids and Mudflap were doing the same or not. Sam and Graham had disappeared inside of the hole in the wall a few minutes ago, and the twins were fighting each other to see who could look through the hole after them. Bumblebee didn't even waste the effort, more involved with keeping tabs on the battle that he wasn't at, wanting to know exactly who was there so he could be ready. And a battle it was.<p>

According to Trailbreaker, the only mech who could really spend time talking as he guarded their Prime, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had raced off on towards Megatron and the Fallen, the two mechs already climbing the pyramids to try and get at the Sun Harvester. It was most likely a suicide mission, but together the twins were deadly and so fast they could give Prime a run for his money if they ever decided to. Meanwhile Menasor had been formed, and Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz, Fig, and ten other NEST soldiers were attempting to battle the Decepticon behemoth.

Then, of course, there was Barricade, Soundwave, Groundhog, and the cassetticons. It seemed the ex-cons were more willing to fight if it was around more of their own kind, not Autobots but not Decepticons either. Certainly on the side of the Autobots, but always that small amount of questioning whether they could be trusted or could afford to trust the Autobots. Skyfire was with them, as well as Will and Epps. They had the head Seeker trine, Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker. There were also other nameless Seekers.

_:Starscream has taken Miles down.:_

It was Soundwave's voice that came across his connection to Trailbreaker, the ex-Decepticon effortlessly hacking into the link and allowing himself to join in.

_:What?:_ Bumblebee's shock radiated through the link, _:Status report for him! Inform Ratchet immediately!:_

_:There is no need. Miles is dead.:_

Silence from Bumblebee and Trailbreaker, Bumblebee trying to take this information in and accept it. Trailbreaker was busying himself with informing some of the others, like Prowl and Ratchet as the main ones. For a long while Bumblebee couldn't bring himself to say anything, too shocked, and then Trailbreaker came back on after he was done contacting some of the others.

_:Is that why Barricade is attempting to offline Skyfire?:_

_:Affirmitive.:_ Soundwave's ever calm attitude seeping into his reply.

_:What?:_ It seemed to be one of the only things Bumblebee could say.

_:Barricade: upset over death, blamed Skyfire.:_ Soundwave intoned, falling back on his old way of talking for a moment. _:Excuse for attacking: acceptable.:_

_:Acceptable my aft!:_ Bumblebee growled, _:Stop him!:_

_:Already have him detained. I may see his reason for attacking as acceptable, but that does not mean I, nor Groundhog, will allow him to do so.:_ There was a small pause, _:Miles would not wish Skyfire to be harmed by him.:_

Miles would be angry if he ever found out Barricade turned around and attacked Skyfire after he died, that was easy enough for Bumblebee to see. It was still hard for Bumblebee to actually process that Miles was in fact dead. He might not understand Barricade's reasoning, but he could only assume that the bond breaking might have pushed the ex-con past the edge of actual decent reasoning and that's why he was attacking the larger mech. Or, perhaps, Trailbreaker and Soundwave had not informed him of the whole story of Miles' death.

He was just about to ask them why Barricade had attacked Skyfire when Sam and Graham climbed back out of the hole, Sam looking distressed.

"We found the Matrix but when I went to pick it up it just turned to dust!" Sam cried unhappily, looking devastated and waving what appeared to be a sock with black dust in it around. "I gathered what I could and put it in my sock, but what are we going to do now?"

Bumblebee looked down at his Charge sadly, trying to decide if he should tell Sam about Miles' death or not. He realized with a small start that Skids and Mudflap were actually _quiet,_ both of them just staring down at Sam. Never before had he heard them completely quiet, even in recharge both or one would make odd little noises. This must mean that somemech had told them about Miles, it was the only explanation, and even with the situation Bumblebee filed this moment away in the back of his processor under a file he kept as 'reasons to not offline twins minor', adding a reminder to show it to everymech later.

Sam never noticed the silence, or the way the twins looked at him, ranting desperately as he waved his sock in the air and made his way over to Bumblebee. Bumblebee decided, as he picked Sam up, that Sam could find out later.

* * *

><p>Will and Epps both had done their best to cover Miles' body up with whatever they could find, but it was hard to do. The village had been abandoned, or just cleared out, and they had left very little behind in the way of cloth big enough to be a suitable cover up. Finally Epps had just taken off his t-shirt and ripped it open to cover up what he could.<p>

Neither could physically feel Miles' loss, something they had both been expecting. Their ties to him and each other seemed to have gone completely quiet instead.

They were currently stuck in a building that was one room, but was missing most of the entire back wall and some of the roof that had been connected to it, leaving them completely open on that one side. Will watched through a hole in the wall, most likely intended to be a window, at the on goings in front of their little hide away. Epps watched their back with disdain at what he was seeing.

In front, Will had the perfect view to see Groundhog alternate between trying to offer comfort to his old team leader and make sure he stayed alive. Barricade ignored Groundhog completely thouggh, instead opting to kick Decepticon aft in a ferocious battle style that no one or mech had seen him use before. Skyfire was keeping a wary optic on Barricade to make sure he wasn't attacked again, while Grundhog was trying to make sure Barricade didn't do anything suicidal. Soundwave and his cassetticons were just intent on making sure that no Decepticons got too close to where the soldiers were currently hiding.

Epps had the wonderful view of an unconscious Starscream. Skyfire had maneuvered the Seeker to behind their little hide away so they could watch him. Apparently the Scientist actually thought they'd speak up if anything tried to kill Starscream, clearly not bothering to think that the soldiers could care less if something happened to the mech who killed one of their own.

There was a loud scream of pain, and Epps jumped, turning to look at his Captain with wide eyes. Will just winced, glancing back at him.

"Barricade just tore off this Seeker's arms, and Soundwave had enough mercy to offline him since 'Cade didn't bother to." Will explained.

"Well," Epps sighed, "We definitely don't need to be out there, then."

Will nodded, but there was an unspoken acknowledgement between them that they'd both rather be in the fight than on the sidelines. Neither could bring themselves to say a word about the young male who lay near them, could do nothing but offer respect in the form of covering him up as best they could and then ignoring the fact that he wasn't alive anymore.

Will went back to keeping an eye on what was happening in the battle, while Epps cast a glance at Miles' body. Looking at it made him regret what he had said to Prowl what was really a short time but now seemed forever ago. Sometimes he really hated being right.

* * *

><p><em>:Sam has what's left of the Matrix. ETA in ten minutes.:<em>

Bumblebee's voice rang out on the comm link between Ratchet, Jazz, and Ironhide. Ratchet paused in the fight to pay attention to the link instead while Jazz and Ironhide continued the battle with Menasor.

_:What the pit do you mean by what's **left** of the Matrix?:_

_:It turned to dust in their hands.:_

_:Slag!:_ Ratchet growled out loud, startling one of the soldiers at his peds. _:Will it still work?:_

_:It's the only chance we have.:_

_:The Fallen and Megatron are already climbing a pyramid, one most likely with the Harvester inside.:_

_:Yes, which I do not understand.: _Ratchet had to wait for Bumblebee to elaborate, _:The Fallen needs the Matrix to actually use the Harvester, and it may be needed to make the Harvester turn on at all. Why is he already going up there?:_

_:Aft probably thinks we'll just give it to him on a silver platter.: _Ratchet felt his processor mentally pause, _:What **do** we need it for, anyway? Besides just to keep it away from the Fallen?:_

_:Sam believes it will jumpstart Optimus' Spark.:_

_:You didn't tell him Miles is gone, did you?:_

A long pause on the other end, _:How do you know?:_

_:Because I practically raised you, Bee. I know you want to protect him, but you can't protect him from life, and you can't hide this from him for long. If you do not tell him I will once things have calmed down.:_

_:He has enough to worry about…:_

_:You are a good Guardian and a good friend, Bee, but sometimes you have to be good at being the bearer of bad news, too. You will be there to comfort him, and at this point that is the best you can do.:_

Ratchet would have said more, having a soft spot for the little yellow Autobot Scout he had helped make into the mech he was today, but he had to abruptly cut off the transmission as Menasor seemed to snap and went into his rampage mode, barely managing to rescue two soldiers in time.

Menasor wasn't so much a weapon that the Decepticons could point and aim as it was a weapon the Decepticons could shove in the right direction and then flee the other way so they weren't caught in the crossfire. The combiner team, when combined, had three major things that created trouble for the Autobots. One was the cyclone gun, two was the overly large ionized sword, and the third was just the pure strength that the combiner team could use when put together.

The cyclone gun was extremely, and annoyingly, effective at breaking through any barriers the Autobots might put up, as well as just breaking through normal things. Even Trailbreaker's shield, as strong as it was, could only take so many hits from the cyclone gun before it gave out, something Ironhide, Jazz, and Ratchet were trying to stop from happening. The ionized sword packed a walloping punch in voltage, and being stabbed through by the sword to where it could touch your internal wiring could be deadly.

The only real advantage the Autobots had against the combiner team, if they had already combined to form Menasor and they didn't have the Superion, was the fact that the five mechs in Menasor had such clashing personalities and views. Motormaster was the leader, but he was hated by his fellow stunticons Drag Strip, Dead End, Breakdown, and Wildrider. Drag Strip was obsessed with competition, and had occasionally been led away by goading from Sunstreaker and Sideswipe into one. Dead End was so pessimistic that if they got him in the right mood he'd just walk away muttering to himself that it wasn't worth it because everything would die anyway. As long as they could either break down Menasor or keep Menasor from forming they had the upper hand.

But today Menasor had the strictest orders and would not be taken down by old tactics, Ironhide blasting away at his arms while the soldiers aimed for his peds with their sabot rounds, Jazz himself having a mini rodeo on Menasor's back as he tried to get at the joints where the mechs were connected so he could slice through them.

Ratchet vented sharply, he was a Medic for Pits sake, not a slagging fighter. Sometimes it was necessary for a Medic to fight, and whenever that happened he had a nice little buzz saw that was handy at cutting through things. He had the nickname of Hatchet for a reason, after all.

* * *

><p>Sam practically bolted out of the safety of Bumblebee's driver seat, running to where Fig and a small group of NEST soldiers stood blasting away at one of the biggest Decepticons he had ever seen. If he took a moment to think he would have recalled it was Menasor from the list that he and Miles had made, but he hardly cared. Graham ran alongside him, trying to cover them even though Bumblebee could do a much better job of it. Skids and Mudflap ran to help Ratchet, Jazz, and Ironhide.<p>

"Yo pug ugleh! Skids and Flap ah here, ya better fear!" The twins said in unison, as a battle cry.

Ironhide groaned even while Jazz laughed, "Well we're doomed now!"

"Sam, England!" Fig called happily, ignoring the 'bots as he waved them over.

"Good to see you haven't gone and gotten yourself knackered, Spain." Graham responded with a smile, looking around to spot Trailbreaker, his own Guardian.

"Hard to go and get myself in the fight when Ratchet's going Medic on all of us organics." Fig smirked, shaking his head before casting a worried look at Sam. "How you holding up, amigo?"

"Huh?" Sam asked, frowning. "Well I guess I am a bit upset the Matrix just turned to dust…"

"I'm talking about Miles!" Fig frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"The Matrix just turned to dust." Sam held up his sock with black powder in it. He'd ended up losing the shoe that had covered it at some point after. "What about Miles?"

"He's dead."

Both Sam and Graham stared at Fig in shock. Then the English man turned to where the 'bots were fighting Menasor.

"BUMBLEBEE!" Bumblebee winced, looking back at the organics for a moment. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Sam shook his head, "Graham, don't. He didn't want us getting worked up over it."

"Yeah? How the hell aren't you getting worked up over it?"

"It's not the time to!" Sam snapped, surprising the two soldiers he was standing near. "We have to focus on getting Optimus up and going!"

"Damn, Engla-"

"Don't even." Graham growled, sending a glare at Fig. "You're right, but how do we do that with that pixie dust?"

"Sprinkle it and pray?" Sam offered with a shrug, "Just call your Guardian off. Something's got to come to me. It _has_ to."

Graham sighed, "If you say it's going to work then that's what we have to believe. C'mon, we'll cover you."

Sam nodded, sparing a glance towards his Guardian while he fought alongside Ratchet, Jazz, Ironhide, the twins minor, and several organic soldiers. Menasor was so huge that it almost made him want to stay to make sure nothing bad happened to Bumblebee. Then Fig grabbed his hand, practically dragging him until he found his own footing and started sprinting alongside the soldier.

"Skywarp and other dude, five o'clock!" Graham yelled, just as two Seekers flew so close overhead that all three organics had to duck to avoid being hit.

Both Seekers turned around immediately to chase after the three organics, firing off shots. All Sam knew was that sand was exploding behind them, raining down over them as Fig and Graham tried to drag them faster, heart pounding in his ears and drowning out whatever Graham was screaming. The 'what' came into view soon, however, Trailbreaker standing from his previous kneeling position beside Optimus and lowering his shield so he could aid the organics.

Sam had another idea, however. Clutching the sock he geared up, tossing it as high and hard as he could.

"TRAILBREAKER, CATCH!"

Surprise flitted across the mech's faceplates, but he reached a servo out to catch the tiny object anyway, looking at it in bewilderment. The sock came undone, the contents of the black dust spilling out into his servo. He stared in disbelief, just about to ask what he was supposed to do with the pixie dust, when the particles began to move on their own, forming an object that he had never seen a likeness to before. He turned around, kneeling beside his Prime again and slamming the Matrix tip first against Optimus' chest plates. Blue optics flared to life just as three explosions sounded from behind Trailbreaker, screams intermingling with them.

The Seeker next to Skywarp had been Dreadwing, a Decepticon bomber, and all three humans had been blown clear of whatever impact sites they had been near, all lying on the ground a distance away from each other. Graham was the quickest to recover, yelping something unintelligible as he tried to run away from another bomb, while Fig just groaned from his spot on the ground. Trailbreaker moved immediately, Guardian protocols practically screaming at him to get over to Graham and start protecting his Charge now that his Prime no longer needed him.

Optimus was awake and ready to go, but picking himself up slowly and carefully as he tried to get his bearings. Going from a fake dead state to suddenly up and supposed to be fighting would take anymech a few moments to process, just long enough for Skywarp to take the opportunity to warp over and grab the Matrix, but before he could go anywhere Optimus grabbed one of his wings, being taken along for the ride as the Seeker warped back out towards the Pyramids where Megatron and the Fallen were.

By then Trailbreaker had a shield up and around his Charge, shooting at Dreadwing and trying to take the Decepticon bomber down, but the mech was too fast, Thundercracker coming over to aid his fellow seeker.

"WE NEED SOME HELP HERE!" Fig yelled, picking himself up and glancing between Sam's motionless body and safety. He chose Sam even as his instincts were yelling at him, kneeling beside the young teen and trying to get a response. "SHIT! RATCHET, GET RATCHET! SAM NEEDS HIM!"

Ratchet and Bumblebee responded immediately at Sam's name, the Medic transforming down into his ambulance alt mode to race over to Fig and Sam while Bumblebee launched himself at one of the Seekers, latching on to their back in a similar way to when Sideswipe and Sunstreaker did their jet judo, hanging on for dear life even as he blasted away at Dreadwing's back. Trailbreaker dropped the shield long enough for Graham to run over to Fig, Sam, and Ratchet, before going after Thundercracker. Ratchet was ordering the soldiers around, Graham getting a field defibrillator from a compartment in the Medic's leg, Ratchet immediately turning it on. Dreadwing twirled in midair, knocking Bumblebee off his back, and firing off several shots from his gatling gun at the Scout.

"Clear!"  
>"Again!"<br>"Clear!"

Bumblebee seemed to freeze, optics darting to where they were trying to revive his Charge. Dreadwing turned to watch, smirking.

"Again!"  
>"Clear!"<br>"He's dead!"  
>"Slaggit, keep trying!"<p>

"Awe, is the little organic dead?" Dreadwing sneered, and then laughed. "How wonderful!"

Ratchet's defeated, 'he's dead', barely reached Bumblebee as he snarled, tackling the Decepticon Seeker in midair once again and not letting go this time. Dreadwing tried desperately to get him off as Bumblebee skipped over shooting the Seeker completely, instead using both servos to latch on in the delicate weld between wing and frame, tearing the wing off completely as Dreadwing screamed, crashing them both into the ground. Bumblebee picked himself up as Dreadwing withered on the ground in pain, stepping on the Decepticon's back and bringing out his plasma cannon again, holding the 'con down as he shot him in the helm.

Bumblebee watched until Dreadwing stopped twitching, walking over to where Sam was. Fig and Graham watched the Scout's approach with their mouths hanging open, both forgetting that Bumblebee was just as good of a soldier as all the other 'bots were, despite his sunny disposition and young age. The Scout dropped to his knees, reaching out and picking up the body with all the gentleness he could muster, cradling the boy to his chest.

"Bee, we should give him to Will and Epps so they can put him with Miles." Ratchet said gently, placing a servo on the Scout's shoulder and squeezing. Bumblebee just nodded.

* * *

><p>Sunstreaker leaned against his twin heavily as both eyed Megatron, arm torn half way out of its socket. A loud pop signaled Skywarp's arrival, and the Decepticon Seeker dropped both Optimus Prim right on top of Megatron, the poor Decepticon leader forced to the ground under the Prime's weight. He tossed the Matrix of Leadership up to the Fallen, perched precariously on the side of one of the pyramids, who then gave a triumphant bellow as he caught the Matrix in servo.<p>

"You ruined my paintjob!" Skywarp wailed before warping out of sight once more.

Skywarp, out of all the Decepticon Seekers, was a particular favorite even among the Autobots. The mech never seemed all there in processor, but was great at playing pranks. Even during battle he enjoyed playing pranks, neither side safe from him.

"He sounds like you, Sunny!" Sideswipe mock gasped.

"Slag off!" Sunstreaker growled, smacking his twin over the helm. "Optimus, are you okay!"

"Yes!" The Prime picked himself up, backing off quickly in case Megatron recovered. "Distract Megatron while I get the Fallen!"

"Right-o, boss 'bot!" Both twins yelled in unison, but that was something easier said than done. Megatron was already picking himself up off the ground, snarling in anger.

The Fallen laughed, "You'll never stop the Harvester in time, little Prime!"

Optimus went to climb the Pyramid just as the Fallen knocked away and clawed off bricks at the top of the structure, revealing the Harvester machine that had been hidden within it, activating it with the Matrix he now had. Optimus shot at the bricks under the Fallen's ped, making the ancient Prime lose his balance long enough for the newest Prime to climb up and grab him by one of his peds, swinging him down and off the Pyramid.

"Pwn'd!" Sideswipe cackled, narrowly ducking Megatron's fist.


	58. Saving the World

**AN: **Holy... this is just the longest chapter in the existence of ever that I have done! Like BAM. Enough people objected to the idea off Sam and Miles as Pretenders that they're both still humans. I had some parts written where they had been, so you might catch mistakes.  
><strong>AN2:<strong> This is basically the end of TC. I plan on making a new story to continue it, which hopefully will not be solely focused on Miles and Barricade like this one pretty much turned out to be. It will be the sequel, so it's not the end, but this already has 50+ chapters and I don't feel like lengthening that.  
><strong>AN3:<strong> Will add last chapter, an Author's Note, when I have the first chapter of the sequel up. It will tell the title and answer reviews.

**_Chapter 58  
><em>****_Saving the World_**

* * *

><p>Sam blinked, looking around himself slowly as he tried to figure out how he came to be there. Where there happened to be he wasn't quite sure, but he had a feeling that it was nowhere on Earth. It was similar to the place where he, Epps, Will, and Miles had gone, but different at the same time. The inky blackness seemed to be closing in on all sides, and the only things holding it back were the large, almost intimidating, bodies of the Primes that surrounded him.<p>

A ball of light suddenly darted in between the legs of one of the Primes, zooming over to Sam and circling him so fast that he grew slightly dizzy. It put him in mind of a large lightning bug, the color a light gold. It came to a stop just over his shoulder, nearly touching his cheek, and pulsated warmth at him in a friendly manner.

"Slag it!" One of the Primes growled, surprising Sam and turning his attention from the ball of light to the Prime. "You get back here!"

The ball of light seemed to flicker in amusement, "_Pbbt!_"

Sam blinked again, was that a raspberry?

"Why you-!"

The Prime reached for the ball of light but it darted away before the mech could get anywhere near to it, and Sam watched in amusement as it whizzed around the Prime in a taunting matter, close enough to dart in for a touch but fast enough that the Prime had no hope of touching it. The Prime growled again, trying to grab it, and muttered, appearing to try to argue with the ball of light. Besides the raspberry it didn't seem to be capable of any speech, nor did it seem to care that the Prime was attempting to order it around.

"Brother, you should just let him go." Another of the Primes spoke up, only to receive a sharp look. He sighed, looking down at Sam. "He's our Medic."

"Huh," Sam tried not to laugh, "I thought he seemed a bit like Ratch."

"Yes, well, apparently all of the best Medics have horrible bedside manner." The Prime replied with a small smirk, shrugging in a very human gesture.

Sam smiled, slightly relieved. Somehow he had thought the Dynasty of the Primes, or the number that was in front of him anyway, would be much more stoic and proper. Then again, they had been dead for a very long time. He supposed that would give anyone some time to adjust their personality, even Prowl.

There were seven Primes in the place with him, which confused Sam slightly. The Dynasty of the Primes had consisted of thirteen Primes in the beginning, and while the Fallen would naturally be excluded because he was still very much alive but also for being a traitor, that didn't account for the other five Primes. Then he realized these were the Primes who had been left alive after the Fallen's betrayal, the ones who had weakened him and their sacrificed their own lives to create the Tomb of the Primes in an attempt to forever hide the Matrix from their fallen brother.

All seven of them looked different from what he would have expected, but then again all he had to base on for Prime looks was Optimus. Their entire frame was a lot less bulky, their heads more of an odd elongated oval shape, too. They gave off a more predatory air, and somehow came off as more dangerous than their Cybertronian descendants, more intimidating despite their lack of bulk. He knew now that the one attempting to talk to the orb of light was a Medic, and the others had to have specific job descriptions too, then. Balance the work load.

"What is that lightning bug, anyway?" Sam asked, and once he mentioned it the ball of light zoomed back towards him, flying around him once more.

The Prime appeared confused, "Lightning bug?"

"An Earth insect, their afts light up to attract mates." Another Prime explained, and Sam took this one to be a Scientist from the matter of fact tone and the way he was the only one who knew.

"Indeed?" The Prime asked softly, his gaze returning to Sam. "That is a Spark, young Samuel. Both of you appear as Sparks and nothing more to us in this place, but to make it easier on you the sight of your own body is what greets you."

"Fuck, does that mean I'm dead?" Sam groaned, "My mom and Bee are so not going to be happy about this."

"Yes, you are." The Prime replied, sounding amused. "Both you and the other organic, Miles, are dead. For now."

"Miles?" Sam asked in surprise, eyes immediately darting to the gold ball of light and widening. As if to answer his suspicions the orb nuzzled his cheek in an affectionate manner.

"Yes, that is him." The Medic Prime scowled, "The little slagger does not know his place."

Another raspberry came out of the orb of light, followed by it whizzing up to the only Prime who had actually been making sense to Sam. He supposed this must have been the head of the Primes, or at least in this situation, because the ball of light flew up to his face plates and nuzzled his cheek in much the same manner it had just nuzzled Sam's, flickering in a pitiful manner.

"Brother," The Prime instantly chastised, giving the ball of light an affectionate pat. "He knows no better, leave him alone."

Sam had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, the Medic Prime giving the ball of light a look that would have made it keel over if it wasn't already dead. He had to keep reminding himself that this was Miles, apparently, finding that a hard to grasp concept.

"Uhm, is there something I can help you lot with or…" Sam trailed off, unsure if was just here because he had died and they were trying to bring him back or if they actually need him.

And wasn't that one of the weirdest things he had ever thought? He was dead, and it wasn't even bothering him in the slightest. Well, that wasn't true. Some part of him would have been freaking out if the Primes hadn't already said they were going to bring him and Miles back. What was bothering him more than being told he was dead was the reactions he was bound to get when he came back. He doubted Ratchet would let him escape the Medbay for a week, and then Bumblebee being extra protective of him for months. Not to mention his mom yelling at the Autobots for letting him die in the first place.

"Yes!" The Medic Prime cried immediately, waving a servo in the air and an image forming just like that. Sam looked at it, and he could have sworn it was an exact replica of an image from his ninth grade health book. The mech pointed to one of the organs, "What the pit is that?"

"Appendix," Sam replied instantly.

"What's it do?"

Sam hesitated now, "Er, well, I don't think it actually _does_ anything. Kind of like our tailbone even though we don't have tails anymore, it's a vestigial organ. So no use, really."

"WHAT?"

Sam jumped at the bellow, and it apparently startled Miles too, because the ball of light darted over to Sam again and far from the Medic in the process. Before Sam could ask what the problem was the ground fell out from beneath him, and then he wasn't aware of anything at all.

All six Primes sighed at their seventh brother, shaking their helms in unison. Years of death in this in between plane had made them all what others might see as unstable, which is exactly why not many others saw them. It was extremely hard to put yourself in somemech else's peds when these mechs were dead but neither in the Well of Sparks nor the Pit, mere conduits of Primus. If Primus wanted the important organics to remain amongst the living then it was their job to make it so, but the decision of organic or something better was unfairly left to them.

They existed on their own little plane, somewhere in between the Well of Sparks where Primus rested and the plane of the living, but far from the Pit. Close enough that Primus could tell them his will and they could do their best to have it done through the living. Having the Allspark land on Earth had been their doing, already knowing of the strange little planet from their deaths there. Archibald finding Megatron when the ice cracked, and then finally Sam's destiny with them were all things they had influenced in the living world to help finally end the war and bring their descendants back together.

No matter what they or Primus wished, there were always multiple paths for the future to take. If Optimus had not caught Sam in Mission City, if Bumblebee had not rescued Sam from Barricade when the ex-con had first interrogated him, and then there had also been a few possibilities where after everything Sam had decided to drop contact with the Autobots in an attempt of normalcy.

Miles had always been included, but more as an afterthought as just the organic best friend of the most important organic. The possible outcomes where he actually even found out about their kind was so slim that he wasn't worth paying much thought to, but of course Primus must have known they wouldn't, because he had seemed to enjoy their amazement and confusion greatly. To put it lightly, they had been almost as surprised as Sam and the rest of their kind when Miles not only found Barricade but decided to work with him, and that when Barricade woke up he didn't just kill the fleshling, instead going down a path that none of the Primes had thought possible.

But it was one of the best they had seen so far. Having Sam or Miles die could be disastrous for the bright future that was just around the corner, especially if both of them died. Organic bodies were so fragile though, showcased by the trouble the teens had gone through after they had gotten separated from Epps on the return from talking to Bluestreak. And then Starscream had to go and crush one while the other was defeated by a mere explosion, something that had been completely out of their hands for the most part, considering Miles had accepted his fate to save Starscream in his stead.

"_Ten weeks of vacation says Miles and Barricade Spark._"

This was spoken in such an old version of Cybertronian that no mech on Earth but the Fallen would have been able to understand it. It was their preferred language if they weren't talking English. Five Primes, minus the Medic and the one who had spoken, groaned. Given their current predicament, vacation for them meant time spent in the Well of Sparks with Primus, their Sparks getting a well-deserved rest and break for a set amount of time before they were sent back to work. It was the main thing they could wager as they really had nothing else.

"_Whenever I do get him up and running!_" Their Medic snarled, "_You try fixing all the slagging damage that glitch has done to him!_"

* * *

><p>The Harvester had been activated, and it was a race against time to turn it off or destroy it. Every second was precious, a countdown until the Harvester reached full power and started to draw energy from the sun, the very sun which powered the life on Earth. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe fought against Megatron, desperate to keep the Decepticon leader away from their Prime. No one knew how strong the Fallen was, but neither twin wanted their Prime to have his servos anymore full than they already were. If they could manage to keep Megatron at bay long enough for Optimus to kill the Fallen, then they could easily switch places and one or both twins go to deactivate the sun harvester.<p>

"Die!" The Fallen hissed, "Like your brothers!"

"They were your brothers too!"

"Yes, unlike those pathetic organics you insist on protecting!" The Fallen sneered, "I've been told my mechs have taken two of those pathetic creatures out already, good riddance."

Sam and Miles might not have been soldiers, or even Cybertronian, but they were Autobots, Optimus' Autobots, and he wouldn't stand for an ancient half mad mech to bad mouth them. The Fallen moved forward to tackle the young Prime, but Optimus would have none of that. He quickly aimed at the older Prime's Spark chamber, blasting him back and then giving him no time to recover as he jumped on and sent them rolling, the two trying to tear pieces of armor and metal off the other until Optimus kicked the Fallen off of him, tossing him into the stone wall of the Pyramid. The Fallen picked himself up quickly, digging his claws in and dislodging a large chunk of brick, tossing it at Optimus. Optimus easily dodged it, bringing out his Energon blade and shoving the Fallen against the pyramid, using the blade to slice right through the thin metal of his faceplates.

The Fallen grabbed the blade, twisting it and snapping the tendons of Optimus' wrist as he did so, shoving the younger Prime back and un-subspacing both his staff and a little vial. Energon began leaking from the severed lines immediately, but Optimus just sent a quick command to turn his pain receptors off, immediately picking himself up only to be smacked so hard over the helm by the staff it made him stumble, barely managing to grab on to the end of it and use it as leverage to pull the Fallen closer to him, wrenching his own staff from his servos and slapping him with it before stabbing it through his shoulder, bending it so it wrapped around the back of his neck. Optimus drew it upwards harshly, catching the Fallen's faceplates on it and ripping them off entirely, leaving a wretched leaking mass behind.

"Kill me, little Prime!" The Fallen laughed even as his lifeblood leaked from his mouth, "My death has always been written, but tell me, what of your own?"

The Fallen grabbed the wrist he had broken, pressing the vial into the open wound and breaking it. Optimus never felt the pain it would have caused, barely felt it at all with his receptors off, shaking the Fallen off and then using his good servo to smash through the older mech's chassis, into his Spark chamber and then beyond, extinguishing the ancient Spark even as the Fallen coughed and laughed his final laugh.

"Wow," Sideswipe remarked in a breathless voice, though he had no need to breathe. "That was easy."

Sunstreaker sneered at Megatron, "And he was your great master? Skids and Mudflap could have taken him on!"

Megatron snarled, trying to shove the red twin off him while he attempted to shoot the yellow menace who dared mock his Master, only for his own blaster to be grabbed and turned towards his faceplates as he let off a round, howling in anger and pain as it hit. The anger fueled him just enough to knock the red frontliner of him, then blast the yellow one in the knee joints, snarling as he ran a few steps and transformed.

"DECEPTICONS! RETREAT!"

Sideswipe immediately went for Sunstreaker as his brother's leg gave out from the blast, catching him and setting him down gently. He would have stayed right there if Optimus hadn't walked up, looking down at the both of them with worried optics as he checked them over quickly.

"Sideswipe, go and turn off the Harvester. Use whatever means necessary, destroy it if you must." Optimus sounded tired, kneeling beside Sunstreaker to look at his knee. "Do it quickly."

Sideswipe was up and scaling the pyramid so fast he could have almost rivaled Blurr. He too, along with Sunstreaker, had a Charge here, a precious organic who would die along with their sun if the machine was allowed to do what it had been built for.

* * *

><p>When Starscream first woke up, he almost wished that the tiny ground pounder had killed him for killing the precious organic. Almost wished, because that would have been a cowardly thing to truly wish for.<p>

Many things in his processor were hazy, but he had the gist of almost everything that had happened. Anger filled him, and if Shockwave hadn't already been dead then he would have been soon. If Starscream would have been able to he would have gone after Megatron too, his oh so glorious leader. How could any mech with an actual Spark do what Shockwave had done to him? How could any mech approve what Shockwave had done?

Everything had been a lie. Even some of his fellow Seekers had been fooled, following their Air Commander blindly without truly knowing him. Starscream had never wanted that title in the first place, though he had preened at the attention and glory it had gotten him, but he'd never wanted the responsibility of it. And it had caused so many Seekers to go over to the Decepticons, though most would have gone over anyway.

Then came the thought of his own trine. Before the war Starscream had been so wrapped up in going through school, becoming a Scientist, and then following in Skyfire's ped trails to try and someday match the bigger seeker and become worthy of his attention, that he had never formed a trine. During the war it had been Shockwave who had sought out Thundercracker and Skywarp, two already mated Seekers, because without them Starscream's Spark would have become too unstable over the stress of him fighting the Reprogramming. Thundercracker was a Decepticon, the main reason Skywarp joined, but Skywarp was just as much of a Decepticon. How would the two react? Would they stick by his side, or abandon him?

A trine bond, once formed, was almost as important as a Sparkmate bond to Seekers. Seekers were naturally high energy mechs, constantly using or possessing so much energy that it often needed to be shared through merging of Sparks, or gotten rid of through overload. If Starscream overworked himself then Thundercracker could give his Commander an extra edge, or if Skywarp's warping abilities were needed then both of them could give the warping Seeker an extra boost. Trines could all become Sparkmates, but as close as Starscream had grown to the two, he had never liked them that much, and the two had never liked him that much. The humans would call them friends with benefits, comrades in arms that helped relieve stress, etc., but a trine bond was all that and more. Breaking it off could literally kill a Seeker. Very few Seekers could go without ever forming a trine bond, though Skyfire had been doing a good job of it.

"Hey, Will, it's awake."

Starscream was slightly surprised by the sentence, turning his helm to see two organic soldiers, only one bothering to look at him. Well, the one was glaring at him really.

"I am a mech, organic, not an 'it'." Starscream corrected without thinking, sitting up to survey his surroundings better.

"Will, it's talking to me. Get Skyfire."

The other organic, the one called Will, sighed. "Epps, be nice."

"Telling you to get Skyfire _was_ being nice," The other organic, now Epps, grumbled, glaring at Starscream still. "Fine, I'm Robert Epps, prefer Epps. That's Will Lennox, he prefers Will. He's the Captain and I'm the Sergeant, and you can probably see why now. You are going to keep your mouth shut so I don't have to hear you anymore."

"You have every right to be angry at me orga-Epps." Starscream vented softly.

Will frowned, "Sky says you were under some code thing that Shockwave did to you, made you act differently. That's not your fault."

"No, I may not have been in control of myself fully, but it was still me. He corrupted my thinking, planted thoughts in my head, but most of the actions I took were ones _**I**_ decided based on them. Killing Megatron was what this me, and the me under Shockwave wanted, but it is not the only thing we have in common. What I could do under Shockwave's control I could do now, I'd just never want to."

"Dude, if you start a fucking oh-woe-is-me-because-I-might-actually-be-who-they-wanted-me-to-be thing up I really am going to hate you." Epps growled, "It's over, it's done with, good luck on not getting shot full of plasma and sabot rounds by the Autobots."

"Thank you." Starscream wasn't sure if he should be amused or annoyed by the soldier's gall. He stood up, seeing Skyfire's large frame start coming for him immediately.

"Oh, Starscream, thank goodness!" Skyfire came to a stop beside the smaller Seeker, scanning him. "Are you okay? Has your processor returned to normal?"

"I am fine, Skyfire." Starscream sighed, but allowed the larger scientist to look him over anyway.

"If you two Spark, can I watch? Ratch said that's the only way I'm going to get a course on Cybertronian sex."

"Epps!" Will looked aghast at his best friend.

"Of course, Robert." Skyfire said pleasantly, smiling at the tiny organic.

"Skyfire!" Starscream nearly shrieked, smacking the larger mech on his chassis. "We're not even together, you cannot give him permission to watch us!"

Skyfire shuttered his optics in confusion, "But as we are not together it does not matter if I give him permission, does it not?"

"Not the point." Starscream growled, before venting heavily. "Come, I have a trine I need to talk to."

Epps and Will watched the pair walk off, both noting how Skyfire was still checking over the smaller Seeker in a worried manner. Neither were surprised by Skyfire doing this, Miles had told them how much the larger Seeker seemed to care for the smaller one, and it had only been proven by Skyfire's slip up with the bit of data he had pulled from Shockwave's brain in his desperation to either prove Starscream had been reprogrammed, or to find a way to fix what had been done.

Both soldiers had at least some personal right to hate Starscream besides him being the Second in Command of the Decepticon army, or used to be SIC, because the Seeker had killed Miles. Epps might try to play angry and hateful enough for the both of them, but neither would hold it against the Seeker forever. But they were just two organics, while Starscream would also have to face down countless Autobots and even his own 'allies' if he wanted to get his life back on track the way it should have gone. Epps bad mouthing him a bit would be the least of his worries.

"We need a break after this," Epps said finally. "Leave all this crazy shit to the young'uns."

"For once we agree."

* * *

><p>The battlefield had gone dead silent, all optics turned to the two Seekers currently facing off. The Second in Command of the entire Decepticon, also the Air Commander of the Seekers, had just walked right up to the battle and addressed his Seekers, saying he was defecting from the Decepticons and joining the Autobots instead. Said bluntly, because this was Starscream after all, as if he expected all the Seekers to just walk over to the Autobots with him.<p>

His trine mates, Skywarp and Thundercracker, had frozen at this nonchalant message, before a stormy look came over Thundercracker's faceplates and he whirled on his trine member. But Starscream was so much more than just a trine member, given all the titles possible of the highest respect. Trine leader, Air Commander, Second in Command. Starscream getting to be trine leader, while not necessarily bothering Thundercracker, did grate on his nerves occasionally. Then again Starscream just grated on his nerves occasionally, and it was a wonder to everyone but himself how he managed to put with Skywarp if he got annoyed at Starscream.

But Skywarp had never dropped the metaphorical bomb on them, saying they were just switchingg sides. And as their protocols would dictate, Starscream being trine leader, Air Commander, and their higher up in the ranks in general, they would have to listen to the Seeker. But Thundercracker had joined the Decepticons for a reason, and Starscream had no influence on that. Why should he be influenced now?

Two organic soldiers, Epps and Will, were both ignored as they came out to see what was going on, standing at Skyfire's peds.

"**What the frag do you mean you're going to the Autodolts?**" Thundercracker snarled, preferring to use Cybertronian if he had the choice. "**Have you hit your helm?**"

"**You could say that.**" Starscream replied, an optic ridge arching in amusement. "**Shockwave thought it necessary to force his way into my processor and use me for his and Megatron's will. I have been freed.**"

"**Oh, come on!**" Thundercracker tossed his servos in the air in anger, "**Do you really expect us to believe that? You're saying you were **_**Reprogrammed**_**! That was banned, all files erased. It's just a Sparkling's tale.**"

Skywarp looked between his mate and his trine leader, "**We both noticed how unstable his Spark was, 'Cracker. You yourself wondered why Megatron put up with all the death threats, attempts at being overthrown, or Starscream messing up our plans so the Autobots won. His Spark never did feel right, did it? You just chalked it down to him not being our mate.**"

"**So you knew?**" Starscream asked in surprise, looking at Skywarp with appreciative optics.

"'**Course I did!**" Skywarp grinned, "**Might not have known what exactly, but I had my suspicions. Who do you think distracted Megatron from half your beatings? It's why I targeted so many pranks on him, or at least ones big enough to gain his attention. I brought it up with Soundwave and he only confirmed my suspicions.**"

"_**Soundwave**_**?**" Both Starscream and Thundercracker asked together, before Thundercracker sent another glare at his trine leader.

"**Affirmitive.**" Soundwave spoke up from his place next to Barricade and Groundhog, "**Starscream's processor: jumbled, hard to read. Residue left: Shockwave not good at cleaning up his tracks. Evidence: erased completely, but clues left.**"

"**You have got to be kidding me!**" Thundercracker growled, turning to glare at Soundwave now too.

Skywarp shrugged, "**'Cracker doesn't like big surprises. But oh well, I always thought being an Autobot would be fun!**"

"**You can't be serious, 'Warp!**" Thundercracker gawked at his Sparkmate.

"**Dead serious, 'Cracker!**" Skywarp replied cheerfully, stepping over to Starscream's side and sliding in between him and Skyfire. "**Now we can get Sunstreaker and Sideswipe for their jet judo and Ratchet won't kill us! And besides, Skyfire's with them! I want to place bets on when he and Screamer will get it on!**"

"'**Warp, you can't go over to the Autobots!**" Thundercracker hissed, "**There's no way they'll accept us! It won't be safe to recharge, we'll have to watch our backs!**"

"**They treat Barricade, Groundhog, Soundwave, and his cassettes well, 'Cracker!**" Skywarp whined, crossing his arms and pouting at his mate.

"**I had a human willing to vouch for me, Soundwave got **brownie **points for helping out the Sparkling and two organics, and Groundhog was relatively safe because by that point I'd wormed my way in and my organic would vouch for him if I did.**" There was no word for brownie in Cybertronian, so Barricade just used the English version of it. His usual growl or snarl was gone, stating this matter of factly because he couldn't be bothered to put emotion behind it. "**You three I imagine would have more trouble, Starscream especially. However, most of the 'bots on Earth are already used to this. I'd say you wouldn't get much trouble unless we get a new arrival. Ironhide might act like he hates you, but he's actually right up there on the Prime's command list, and not just as Weapons Specialist. Ratchet will fix you up no matter who you are.**"

"**See? Barricade's been with them the longest, he'd know!**" Skywarp grinned at Barricade.

"**Barricade's a filthy ground pounder.**" Thundercracker snarled, "**Why should I listen to him?**"

Barricade ignored the insult, and Groundhog glanced at his ex-leader anxiously. "**Most of the Autobots tend to avoid you if you're new and they're not sure about you, same with the organics. Unless you go to them then they're not going to start something, and even then they probably won't. I only ever had trouble the once when I dumped all of Sunstreaker's paint, the other set of Autobot twins telling me Sunny wanted that done, and then Sideswipe held him back until I explained myself.**"

"**Still coming from a ground pounder, but at least this one isn't an organic loving ground pounder.**" Thundercracker sneered at Barricade.

"**Suggestion: keep organics out of this.**" Soundwave, surprisingly enough, spoke up, though whether it was in Barricade's defense or Miles' was unknown. "**Humans: similar to us in many ways. Many Autobots have accepted an organic, or organics, as their Charge. Insulting love of or organics themselves will only end badly.**"

"**You honestly expect that the Autobots will just take us in like that? That most of them will treat us kindly? The very idea is laughable at best!**"

"**You forget our past, Thundercracker.**" Starscream said softly, "**We all used to be one. There were no factions, no Autobots or Decepticons. Our friends, our family, we were made to choose between some and even leave others behind. The war has torn us apart, but Cybertron was never meant to be split in two. That's why our planet is now dead. We have a new chance here, on this new planet. We could become one again.**"

"**Then I challenge you.**"

Starscream shuttered his optics in surprise, "**You challenge me?**"

"**If you win me 'n 'Warp will go to the Autobots. If I win you either leave our trine or you stay with us, but we will not be joining the Autobots.**"

"**Fine,**" Starscream narrowed his optics, stepping closer to Thundercracker.

"**Go 'Cracker!**" Skywarp cheered, "**Go 'Screamer! Kick each other's afts, woohoo!**"

Thundercracker got in a defensive position, waiting for Starscream to start the attack like he was sure to, but was surprised when Starscream paused, looking at Ravage. It was evident they were communicating through comms when the cat mech got up and walked away from Soundwave and his cassette brothers, heading for where Skyfire, Starscream, and the two organic soldiers had come from.

And then the battle began. Halfway through Megatron could be heard flying overhead.

"_DECEPTICONS! RETREAT!_"

His order even got a reaction from Starscream, the Seeker barely stopping himself from going after his ex-leader as he had done for so long. Thundercracker and Skywarp were the only other Decepticons to stay, Skywarp watching the battle between his mate and trine leader anxiously.

* * *

><p>When Miles first woke up, he was fairly out of it. This was shown by the fact that the first thing he did was take notice of how wonderful the sky looked, a nice light blue with those wonderful fluffy white clouds. He closed his eyes and yawned, figuring a few more minutes couldn't hurt. Then he took note of the fact that there was a heaviness on his chest, peaking an eye open and noticing it was Ravage. That was all good, he'd woken up to the cat mech in his bed or cuddled up to him if he ever fell asleep somewhere odd and Barricade wasn't around a few times before. Ravage let out a light purr, stretching and kneading at Miles' chest a bit, tail flicking back and forth in a lazy manner. Miles patted the cassetticon on his large head, getting a deeper purr when he did so.<p>

"Thank Primus you finally woke up," Sam frowned at his friend, "I was half afraid you weren't going to."

"What's going on?" Miles asked, completely confused. "The last thing I remember is dying."

"Oh, you both died. Certifiable, heart stopping, coffin needing, dead_._" Ravage purred, startling Sam so bad that he jumped, and Miles blinked at the cat mech on his chest in surprise.

Miles sat up, not bothering to care that he was knocking Ravage from his perch, noticing the look on Sam's face and nearly laughing. Sam looked momentarily flabbergasted; apparently just as surprised that Ravage could now talk as Miles was. Miles had only ever heard Ravage through comm links before; it was a pleasant surprise that Ravage was now able to talk to them normally. It was a bit odd that Ravage didn't need to actually move his mouth to do so, but then again why would he have to? Most of the Cybertronians only did it to fit in more.

"Wow, Rav, about time you got your own voice." Miles grinned at Sam, "Pussy, Rav was just talking to us."

"And that makes you the official second luckiest human in the world, LadiesMan217."Ravage said, amused optics focused on Sam.

Sam frowned, "Just Sam, please. Second luckiest?"

Ravage chuckled, "Both of you can now talk to the wonderful moi. As for the second luckiest, you're stuck with one of those bleeding hearts while the little one has a Decepticon."

"Bleeding hearts?"

"That's how he tends to refer to the Autobots," Miles explained. "Better than some of what Barry used to call them."

"Barricade's not a Decepticon anymore, and neither are you, though." Sam pointed out with a frown.

"You can never stop being something, Samuel. Just become a part of something else. We are Decepticons, which will always stay with us. But now we are Autobots too. Just don't expect us to go saving any infants from burning buildings."

Miles laughed, "Oh please, you love it when Will lets you curl up with Annabelle!"

"I believe miraculously coming back from the dead has left you delusional."Ravage flicked his tail in annoyance, turning his helm up at Miles.

"He just doesn't want you to know that he likes the little mousey toy that Sarah bought for him," Miles mock whispered to Sam.

Sam snickered, appreciating the fact that he could now communicate with Ravage. So far the tiny mech seemed to have a good personality, slightly sarcastic, almost putting Sam in mind of an older brother. Then again, considering how he was the oldest out of all the Cassetticons, which might just be how Ravage saw himself.

"How did you know to come find us, Ravage?" Sam asked, and tried to not be annoyed when he did so. He had woken up first, and had attempted to communicate only to get a helpless shake of the helm. It wasn't until Miles had woken up that Ravage bothered to reveal he talk.

"Starscream just told me to come here and wait. Sure enough I find you two, and then you both awaken." Ravage tilted his helm slightly at the two boys, giving a wide toothy smirk. "I can't wait to see how your Guardians react to you two rising from the dead. Can we surprise them? It'll be purrfect."

"They think we're dead, Rav. Pretty sure it's gonna be a surprise no matter what." Miles pointed out dryly.

Ravage just gave him a sour look for ruining his fun, "I will contact Starscream, then."

* * *

><p>Starscream walked up to the group completely unnoticed, or just ignored by those who did notice him. Only Skyfire gave him a sideways glance, and even then the usually perceptive Scientist didn't take any notice of the two figures Starscream was carrying in one of his servos. The Seeker came to a stop about twenty feet behind Soundwave and Skyfire.<p>

By the time Sam had woken up the battle had basically ended, and an hour later when Miles woke up Ratchet had been tending to what wounded he could and the others had been chasing off or killing any Decepticons still around, though most had fled when Megatron had called the retreat. It was only a little later that Starscream went to retrieve the duo, Ravage going back to Soundwave and his cassette siblings. The cat mech wouldn't say a word to anyone or mech about it, instead waiting so he could enjoy the reactions.

The group itself was standing in a large circle, Optimus Prime in the middle with Ratchet. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were standing side by side, Skids and Mudflap doing the same, both sets of twins silently offering each other comfort. Trailbreaker was standing so he could separate both sets of twins from the other set, Graham on his shoulder. Epps stood in between Ironhide and Jazz, a scowl on his face. The Saboteur also had Bumblebee standing beside him, who was only naturally flanked by Barricade, the two almost expected to be standing together by this point. Groundhog stood beside his old team captain, and Soundwave claimed his other side, the cassetticons scattered at his peds. Skyfire stood beside Soundwave and Sideswipe, completing the circle. Ironhide was holding Will and Fig. The rest of the organic soldiers that had been shipped out with them were standing at Skyfire's peds.

Ratchet was silent as he examined Optimus, something extremely unusual. It meant things were bad if Ratchet wasn't kicking up a fuss, yelling his head off and using every cuss word in every language he could think of before creating his own colorful phrases with combinations of them.

"Slag it all to the Pit and back," Ratchet couldn't even look Optimus in the optics. "He used cosmic rust on you."

"Cosmic rust?" Graham asked.

"A type of micro-organism, highly contagious." Skyfire began to explain. "The rust on your planet is not strong enough to eat through our metals, but cosmic rust is. It devours Cybertronian metals as easily as you might eat a cherry, and as it had direct contact with Prime's Energon lines then it will likely spread even faster. It will kill him unless we get the antidote for him, though there are means of stopping it from being contagious even without the antidote."

"Then let's get that antidote!" Will said, Fig nodding beside him.

"The antidote," Ironhide growled, "Is with Perceptor, the mech who created it. His location is unknown."

"Then we'll just have to find a way to get in touch with him, won't we?" Sam asked, smirking. All helms and heads shot in their direction, stunned at the sound of his voice.

The two teens shared a grin, both hopping down from Starscream's servo. By now the trio was being stared at in complete shock, all optics and eyes looking at them in disbelief, and one set of optics in amusement. Well, mainly focused on the two now on the ground, no one or mech really caring that there was an amused Seeker standing behind them.

"We come back from the dead and this is the greeting we get?" Sam asked, smirking.

Miles shook his head in amusement, "I know, buddy. This is a bit disappointing. I was at least expecting a bit more yelling."

"SAMUEL JAMES WITWICKY, MILES MILTON LANCASTER!" The angry bellow had both teens staring at Ratchet in surprise, the Medic apparently the first to recover and storming his way over to them, snatching them both up off the ground. "WHERE THE PIT DO YOU TWO GET OFF DYING ON US?"

"Awe, Ratch." Miles whined, squirming.

"C'mon, Ratchet! You could let us see our Guardians first!"

"No slagging chance!" Ratchet growled, already moving. Bumblebee and Barricade would have to wait. "You're both getting checkups immediately!"

"We don't need them!" Sam protested.

Ratchet snarled, "I'll tell you what you do or don't need, and right now you both need a smack to your helms for being stupid enough to die on us!"

"Good going, stupid!" Miles hissed, going limp in the Medic's grasp as Ratchet continued on his tirade.

Sam groaned, both teens resigning themselves to their fate at Ratchet's servos. The Medic stalked over to the cargo plane that Will had called for, planning to do exactly what he had said. Everyone and mech, minus Starscream and Ravage, was still watching after Ratchet, Sam, and Miles with evident shock. Only Soundwave managed to not look completely slack jawed at the newest development.

"Was that Sam and Miles?" Bumblebee asked dazedly.

"Indeed," Starscream said, all optics and eyes flying to him. He shuttered his optics in surprise, before realizing that he was their only source of information on what the pit was going on and that he should really back away.

"What do you mean indeed?"  
>"Sam and Miles are alive?"<br>"They're _immortal_!"  
>"How can they be alive? Ratchet said they were dead!"<br>"Yeah, they're humans! Has Ratch lost it?"  
>"But humans can't come back from the dead!"<br>"Their scans showed no life!"  
>"Sam's <em>alive<em>!"  
>"Now we won't have to face Judy and Elizabeth!"<br>"Can we not tell Prowl? Everyone on base still thinks they're dead! He'll glitch so hard sparks will fly!"

Everymech was gathering around Starscream, the Seeker trying to back away as he realized it was a very bad position to be in. Everything was being said at the same time, no one giving him any time to get a word in edge wise.

"_ENOUGH!_" Soundwave shouted over the chatter, and that was enough to stop everyone talking, surprised that _Soundwave_ had yelled, let alone lost his cool over something. "Starscream: explain. Now."

And Starscream did.

* * *

><p>Miles barely withheld a sigh, both he and Sam having finally managed to escape Ratchet's clutches. This was only after Optimus had come around the cargo plane, where Ratchet had set up his field Medbay and was holding the two. By then it had grown dark, all the others camped off near the village with strict orders to not bother Ratchet or the boys. Surprisingly enough no one had fought this order.<p>

Miles looked over to where he could see flames flickering in the distance at the camp he had set up, Sam already making his way over there. And here he was hesitating, almost afraid to go to see the others, because he knew he'd find Barricade there.

Offering to die so the Primes could fix Starscream was no heroic sacrifice in the end. It had been true that he wanted Starscream and Skyfire to have a chance, for Starscream to be able to have his life back. But it was also because of what he knew he felt for Barricade, something he hadn't even noticed cropping up until it was too late to do anything about it. Mainly because he had just gone and flat out kissed him, but still.

Barricade had enough trouble accepting the fact that he now had emotions towards mechs and organics that he should hate, something that just a few months earlier the ex-con would have seen as making him weak, how would he handle developing even more intense emotions for one of them? Miles sighed, knowing that he really only had two results he could hope for. That Barricade felt the same, which seemed unlikely, or that Barricade didn't but was willing to pretend that Miles didn't either and they could just stay the way they had been before Miles had gone and gotten himself killed.

Miles knew exactly what he wanted and the only problem was he did not know what Barricade wanted.

"Miles! What's up?" Sam called, jogging back over to him.

"Thinking."

"Thought I smelled smoke." No hesitation whatsoever, Sam smirking at his friend.

Miles grinned, shoving his friend. "You are an aft. Let's go, I think Bee will step on me if I keep you away from him any longer."

"Yeah?" Sam chuckled, both of them heading towards where the others had set up camp. "If he did Ratchet'd tear him a new tailpipe."

They both laughed, bantering back and forth as they walked towards the camp. Halfway there they could see two alt modes heading straight for them, as if their Guardians had been scanning for their arrival, which they probably had been. Sam stopped and grinned, while Miles just stopped, sure that if he still had a heart it would've been in his throat by now. Sam seemed to notice, casting a worried look at him, but Miles just shook his head.

Both of the Guardians came to a stop about thirty feet away, and then Barricade transformed and walked forward. Sam waved up at the ex-con, tossing another worried glance at Miles, before grinning as his own Guardian neared.

"Miles, it's good to see you alive and well!" Bumblebee said, not going to forget about Miles even if he just wanted to race off with Sam.

Miles smirked, "Thanks Bee. I'd keep a tighter leash on him, he follows me everywhere, and I do mean _everywhere_. Can't even escape him in death."

"I'll do my best," Bumblebee laughed, Sam huffing from beside Miles and then walking over to his Guardian. "Good night."

They were all surprised when there was a loud popping noise, Skywarp appearing out of thin air and grabbing Sam in a servo.

"Jazzy said it's time to play keep away from the little insect!" Skywarp sing-songed cheerfully, tossing Sam up and transforming quickly, catching Sam in his cockpit before racing off towards the campsite.

Instantly Bumblebee was racing after the Seeker, cursing loudly in Cybertronian, and Miles turned to watch him leave with some amusement. He almost felt bad for Bumblebee, Skywarp was apparently just as bad as Jazz and the twins, either set, which meant the Autobot Scout would have a hard time getting Sam back. He turned around; realizing Barricade was just staring down at him. He also realized that the ex-con was damaged, though after a fight it should have been obvious that he would have sustained some injuries. It still managed to worry Miles.

"Oh, you're hurt!" Miles frowned, "Are you okay? Ratchet kind of freaked over us, if you were hurt you should have said something so that he could look over you, Barry."

"You _died_, and you worry of if _I'm_ okay?" Barricade asked, and the tone he used was similar to one Miles had heard him use before.

Miles remembered quite clearly a similar situation in Skyfire's lab after the Scientist had accidentally gotten the virus from Shockwave's files. He'd been worried that Barricade had gotten hurt because of their bond, and Barricade had gotten angry saying that Miles worried too much over everyone else and not nearly enough about himself. The same exact tone the ex-con had used then was being used now.

He swallowed, "Barry, I just…"

"You just _what_?" Barricade snarled, "Because I 'just' thought I lost you! You died! You left me!"

Miles nearly flinched at the accusation, opening his mouth to say something, but closing it again immediately when Barricade brought his holoform out, watching to see what he'd do. Barricade walked closer, and for a moment Miles almost thought that he was going to get slapped like in those sappy movies when the girl thought the boy had died and when she found out he was alive she slapped him and then kissed him, only without the kiss.

He was surprised when the holoform grabbed him and pulled him close, wrapping him up in a hug and doing the exact opposite of hurting him. For once, Miles was the one left unsure what to do for a moment, glancing up at Barricade's mech form and expecting to see red optics, but no, his optics were shuttered. Barricade was attempting to focus entirely on his holoform instead of splitting his senses between the two bodies.

"I'm so sorry, Barry." Miles whispered, finally just wrapping his arms around Barricade's holoform in a return hug, letting his hands clutch at Barricade's shirt.

What had he even been thinking when he had told the Primes he'd die to save Starscream? He not only just left Barricade, but his parents, Sam, all of the Cybertronians he'd come to call his friend, Epps, Will, Fig, Graham, Mikaela, Trent, the Dinobots. A whole list of people and mechs that he hadn't even spared a second thought to. He could never tell anyone that he'd just let himself die, especially not his parents, Sam, or Barricade. What would they even say? They'd be so angry at him.

As happy as he should have been to be alive, Miles was starting to feel like one of the lowliest scum on Earth. How could he do that to all of them?

He was pulled out of internally beating himself up when Barricade suddenly let go, sitting down and pulling Miles along with him, making him let out a surprised sound as he suddenly found himself in Barricade's lap, the ex-con starting to look him over. It should have been awkward to suddenly be sitting in the holoform's lap, legs on either side of Barricade's waist, but Miles pushed that aside because if that's what the ex-con wanted then that was what he was going to get.

After what he'd done he figured he could let Barricade slip by with a few things without any protests. He willingly subjected himself to Barricade's scrutinizing look over, not bothering to fight like he had with Ratchet. It wasn't like he hadn't taken a good long look at himself. For supposedly being crushed to death he felt decidedly un-crushed.

"See?" Miles asked gently, grabbing one of Barricade's hands and moving it over the area of his chest where his heart would be, so the ex-con could feel the soft beating of it himself. "I'm right here, better than ever."

Barricade hesitated for only a moment, before feeling the beat of the organic heart for himself. Miles was surprised when his heart seemed to skip a beat, an odd feeling starting up. Telling him to reach for Barricade across a bond that wasn't there anymore, making him want it again. It was sudden, and Miles found himself frowning.

"What the hell?"

But Barricade just smirked, "You're already used to having a bond, a link to me. It was cut off when you died, and now you're calling out for it again.

Miles hadn't even thought of the bond, how much it had hurt Barricade to suddenly lose it when he died, Spark sinking a little at the thought. The whole part about him calling out for it again he just glossed over. The bond at all in the first place had been surprising, but then again so had the nanobots, saving Orion, and just giant alien robots in general.

"Oh, God, Barry, I'm so so-"

"You didn't have a choice the first time, but now you do. Do you want it?"

Miles blinked, for a second unsure what Barricade was talking about, or why the ex-con was suddenly looking at him in such a serious manner. But then he realized Barricade was talking about their bond, though Miles had never actually seen it as not having a choice, since he had been more than willing to try to save Barricade, and the bond that came out of it had been a nice little bonus. And he actually was bothering to ask if Miles wanted that back. Miles breathed in deeply, no matter that he no longer needed to breathe at all, glancing down to where Barricade's hand was still on his chest.

"But then again…" Barricade trailed off, "I suppose you wouldn't."

"What?" Miles asked before he could stop himself, eyes darting up to the holoform's face. "No, no, I do, I want it!"

A snort, and Miles realized Barricade was smirking at him, leaving him even more confused.

"You like me, do you not?"

"Er, well, I, uhm, it's like, uh-" Barricade quickly stopped him, which was good because Miles was doing a fairly good job at making an utter fool of himself with his stuttering.

"That's a different type of bond than what we had before, then."

Miles stared in surprise, before he finally caught on and relief flooded through him, followed by irritation. Of course Barricade had to wait awhile before finally letting him know how he felt in return, even playing with him a little. Bonds were everything to a Cybertronian, and if they could have created even simple friendship bonds with the organics that dominated Earth then they would have. Friendship bonds, Brother/Sister bonds, parent bonds. A variety of mixtures of those combinations. Then what Ratchet had ended up referring to as a boyfriend/girlfriend, crush bond, or courting bond and finally Sparkmates. Not all Sparkmates instantly knew that they were destined for each other, imprinted on each other, or some just needed the reassurance that they weren't rushing head long into things. In Praxian culture it was necessary to court your intended, that type of bond being used, before finally claiming them as a Sparkmate. And Barricade was referring to that, or at least that's what Miles thought.

Miles wasn't a Cybertronian, but for some reason a bond had already been created between them once before. It only stood to reason that both would assume it would happen again.

"You're such an aft," Miles groaned.

"Oh, so you don't?" Barricade asked, smirking.

"No, I do!" Miles huffed, glaring at the ex-con halfheartedly. But he still had to make sure, needing to actually hear it to believe it. "But do you?"

Barricade just kissed him in response, and for one blissful moment they stayed like that, before Barricade pulled back and leaned his forehead against Miles', growling.

"If you _ever_ do anything like today to me again, I swear I will bring you back myself just to offline you permanently."

Miles grinned, "Are you going to keep having these mood swings all the time? If so I might get second thoughts."

Barricade glared, and Miles leaned in for another kiss before the ex-con got angry enough to go off again. A loud pop signaled Skywarp's arrival through his warping abilities, startling Miles and making him pull away to look at the mech in surprise. Both Skywarp and Sam stared back just as surprised.

"Awe, how cute! The organic and the Cybert-" Barricade snarled at the joyful Seeker, and Skywarp actually pouted. "Fine, fine, we're gone!"

Miles watched in amusement as Skywarp immediately warped out of view again, Sam still too surprised to say anything about what he'd seen. He felt Barricade still beneath him, and in his peripheral vision he noticed red optics before they dimmed. Loud laughter and a few yells of disbelief from the campsite drifted over to them, and Miles rolled his eyes.

"What did you just do?"

Barricade did his best to look innocent, standing up and leading the teen over to his mech form. "I just sent a comm to the others saying not to come near our coordinates."

"Oh, wonderful." Miles muttered, "I'm guessing there was a bet?"

"Several, with one major one that I believe they're celebrating over." Barricade replied, "I am not sure what exactly they entail."

"It's no fun when you read bets about you." Miles snorted, "Plenty when it's someone else's life you're betting on. So who won?"

Barricade didn't reply for a moment, and Miles took it that he was comming somemech to see. Then he started to laugh.

"What?" Miles frowned, "Who won?"

"Your mom, apparently."

Miles gaped in disbelief, and Barricade just chuckled at his expression.

_:Don't you two __**dare**__ do anything just yet!: _Ratchet's snarled command came across in a comm, Miles looking at him questioningly while Barricade paid attention. _:We don't even know if it'd be safe for him to do yet, Barricade. Slag alone time, get him around that fire.:_

"The Medic apparently thinks I'm going to break you, and orders us to go with the others." Barricade said, "I do not think he realizes the soldiers will be more of a threat to you than I will."

"Maybe from hugging to death." Miles smirked, "We just can't ever tell my mom Starscream killed me."

* * *

><p>Skywarp eventually grew bored of playing monkey in the middle with Bumblebee by using Sam as the thing the monkey was trying so desperately to get, and dropped the little organic off with the organic soldiers. There was the boredom, and the fact that when Ratchet knew what was going on he whacked the Autobot Scout over his helm and grabbed him, forcing him to sit still so he could take care of any damage the Scout may have received during the battle.<p>

"I was a bit surprised to see them kissing," Sam frowned, "I know we joked, but to actually see it done?"

"My reaction exactly, brother." Epps laughed, patting Sam on the back.

"You saw them too?"

Epps shook his head, "Not today. The first day, before Skywarp got you. Me, Prowl, Cade, and Miles were stuck doing inventory for Ratch in the human Medbay. Miles tripped down the stairs and landed on Barricade, and then kissed him. I was shocked shitless."

"He'd already kissed Barricade?" Sam asked, shocked. Mainly because he hadn't heard that Miles had kissed Barricade, and because Miles had never bothered to tell him.

"Oh, yeah. Didn't Bee tell you?" Epps asked, "Prowl told everymech about it on the ride over here."

"BUMBLEBEE!"

Bumblebee jumped when his Charge yelled his name, looking at Sam with wide optics. He would have gone over to him, but Ratchet had a tight grip on one arm, messing with the wiring in it.

"How could you _not _tell me that Miles kissed Barricade?"

"You don't get angry when I don't tell you he died, but you get angry when I don't tell you he kissed Barricade?" Bumblebee shuttered his optics in disbelief, before giving Ratchet a helpless look. The Medic just snorted.


	59. Author's note

**Author's Note**

Hello, my lovelies! First off I'd like to give a big thanks to all my reviewers, and any readers who read this story but didn't review, because I love you all! _The Change_ was my first real attempt at fanfiction, and when I first started it up a year ago I certainly never planned for it to go this far. As you all may know it's been on a more humorous note then serious, but I did try to spice it up a bit here and there.

On the scene with Optimus fighting the Fallen, I actually stuck fairly close to the movie version. I literally went to youtube and searched for their fight, then sat there and watched it, then rewatched it until I could work it in and word it how I wanted it. (I tend to flee away from fight scenes; I don't even want to attempt to get better at them. Much better at humor.) I noticed that for some badass mech who betrayed his brothers the Fallen was defeated **really** easily, and that annoyed me. So I had him have a trick up his sleeve, knowing he would most likely be killed by Optimus so he uses Cosmic Rust on him. So he still died ridiculously easily, but it still went according to plan.

Also, I completely skipped over Starscream's and Thundercracker's dual. Someone pointed this out to me because I didn't even notice, but I've arranged it so they waited (to get medical aid and rest up to be on a fair playing field) and just went to the States with everyone. Should go through their dual in the second chapter, if even by saying "And Starscream won!". I plan to have it mostly be an air battle them being Seekers. I also plan to bring in the rest of the Race Track Patrol at some point.

I am writing a sequel. It is called _Acceptance_, should be easy to find if you watch me. I'll upload the first chapter of that before I add on this AN to TC, so hopefully the site will already have it up but if not have faith, it will be there.

Alongside the sequel I will be going through and editing the chapters, rewriting/rewording a bit here or there, etc. I never had a beta, despite the few times I complained about needing one, and was always too lazy to go back and search really hard for any mistakes. Nothing major besides wording, or perhaps an extra paragraph further explaining something, will be changed. I mainly want to up the overall quality, since there's no real reason for all my mistakes, I'm just too lazy to go back and fix it right off the bat.

Bit of a side note, but once this ended I got a few different PM's asking if they could use my idea, or versions of it, in their own stories. If you have an idea based off mine, or want to start off from a certain chapter and take it down a different road like one did, don't be afraid to tell me! I'm happy if I inspire any of you, or just make you guys laugh.


	60. TC: the remix (note from the author)

Hello everybody!

For those of you who may be still be interested in this story I have been kicking my own ass to go back and edit it because I was a lazy bitch when I wrote it. However I got the idea to just do that but make actual changes too (I had some major plot holes or just 0 explanation for some things and yeah no).

Note 1:

The new version of this story will begin under TC: Remix. At some point I will get all the way to the end and redo ACCEPTANCE as well, probably just adding the two together.

Note 2: I'm adding this note at the beginning and end of TC. This way any new readers can see it and any old readers will get an alert (since I'm not sure how the alerts work)

Note 3: Thank you so much if you were one of my many faithful readers of TC. By doing TC: Remix I feel that I am making the story better overall. Not just in writing quality but with a few new scenes as well, or different takes on scenes. This is for you as much as it is for me.


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